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WASHINGTON 

LIBRA.RY. 


if 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


The  American  Health  Primers. 

EDITED  BY  W.  W.  KEEN,  M.  D., 
Fellow  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia. 

This  series  of  American  Health  Primers  is  prepared  to  diffuse  as  widely  ano 
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searches  in  every  branch  of  Medical  and  Hygenic  Science,  They  are  intended 
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Handsome  Cloth  Binding,  50  cents,  each. 

Sent,  postpaid,  upon  receipt  of  price,  or  may  be  obtained  from  any  bookstore. 


HEARING,  AND  HpW  TO  KEEP  IT.    With  Illustrations.     By  CHAS.  H. 

BURNETT,  M.  D.,  Aurist  to  the  Presbyterian  Hospital,  Professor  in  the  Philade) 

phia  Polyclinic. 
LONG  LIFE,  AND  HOW  TO  REACH  IT.     By  J.  G.  RICHARDSON,  M.  D  , 

Piofessor  of  Hygiene  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
THE  SUMMER,  AND  ITS  DISEASES.     By  JAMES  C.   WILSON.   M.   D.% 

Lecturer  on  Physical  Diagnosis  in  Jefferson  Medical  College. 
EYESIGHT,  AND   HOW   TO   CARE    FOR    IT.    With   Illustrations.     By 

GEO  C.  HARLAN,  M.  D.,  Surgeon  to  the  Wills  (Eye)  Hospital,  and  to  the  Eye 

and  Ear  Department,  Pennsylvania  Hospital. 
THE  THROAT  AND  THE  VOICE.    With  Illustrations.     By  J.  SOLIS   Co- 

HEN,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Diseases  of  the  Throat  in  Jefferson  Medical  College, 

Philadelphia,  etc. 
THE  WINTER,  AND  ITS  DANGERS.    By  HAMILTON  OSGOOD,  M.  D.. 

of  Boston,  Editorial  Staff  Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. 
THE  MOUTH  AND  THE  TEETH.    With  Illustrations.     By  J.  W.  WHITB, 

M.  D.,  D.  D.  S.,  of  Philadelphia,  Editor  of  the  Dental  Cosmos. 
BRAIN  WORK  AND    OVERWORK.    By  H.  C.  WOOD.  JR.,  M.  D.,  Clin 

ical  Professor  of  Nervous  Diseases  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
OUR  HOMES.    With  Illustrations.    By  HENRY  HARTSHORNS,  M.  D.,  of  Phil 

adelphia,  formerly  Professor  of  Hygiene  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
THE  SKIN  IN  HEALTH  AND  DISEASE.     By  L.  D.  BULKLEY,  M.  D..  01 

Yew  York,  Physician  to  the  Skin  Department  of  the  Demilt  Dispensary  and  of 

the  New  York  Hospital. 

SEA  AIR  AND  SEA  BATHING.    By  JOHN  H.  PACKARD,  M.  D.,  of  Phila 

dclphia,  Surgeon  to  the  Pensylvania  and  to  St.  Joseph's  Hospitals. 
SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  HYGIENE.    By  D.  R  LINCOLN,  M.  D.,  of 
Boston,  Chairman  Department  of  Health,  American  Social  Science  Association 
"  Each  Volume  of  the  'American  Health  Primers'  The  Inter- Ocean  has  had  the 
pleasure  to  commend.     In  their  practical  teachings,  learning,  and  sound  sense, 
these  volumes  are  worthy  of  all  the  compliments  they  have  received.     They  teach 
*vhat  every  man  and  woman  should  know,  and  yet  what  nine-tenths  of  the  intelligem 
classes  are  ignorant  of,  or  at  best,  have  a  scattering  knowledge  of." — Chicago  Inter 
Ocean. 

"  The  series  of  American  Health  Primers  deserves  hearty  commendation.  These 
handbook*:  of  practical  suggestion  are  prepared  by  men  whose  professional  compe- 
tence is  beyond  question,  and  for  the  most  part,  by  those  who  have  made  the  sub- 
ject treated  the  specific  study  of  their  lives." 


SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL 


HYGIENE. 


BY 

D.  F.  LINCOLN,  M.D., 

Chairman  Department  of  Health,  Social  Science  Association. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
P.  BLAKISTON,   SON  &  CO., 

No.    1012    WALNUT   STREET. 
1896. 


COPYRIGHT. 

PRESLEY  BLAKISTON. 
1880. 


CONTENTS. 


i.— SCHOOL  HYGIENE. 

CHAPTER.  PAGE 

I.  —  GENERAL  REMARKS 7 

II.  — EMOTIONAL  AND  MENTAL  STRAIN        .       .  14 

III.  —  FOOD  AND  SLEEP 19 

IV.  —  BODILY  GROWTH 24 

V.  — AMOUNT  OF  STUDY 28 

VI.  — EXERCISE 34 

VII.  — CARE  OF  THE  EYES 48 

VIII.  —  SCHOOL-DESKS  AND  SEATS  .  .  .  .64 
IX.  —  A  MODEL  SCHOOL-ROOM  .  .  .  .79 
X. — VENTILATION  AND  HEATING  .  .  .85 
XI.  —  SITE,  DRAINAGE,  ETC 94 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER. 

XII.  —  PRIVATE  SCHOOLS 


XIII.  —  COLLEGES 102 

XIV.  — CONTAGIOUS  DISEASE 105 

PART  II. — INDUSTRIAL  HYGIENE. 

I.  —  INJURIOUS    EFFECTS  OF   INHALING   DUSTY 

AND  POISONOUS  SUBSTANCES     .        .        .  107 

II. — INJURIES  FROM  ATMOSPHERIC  CHANGES     .  120 

III. — INJURIES  FROM  OVER-USE  OF  CERTAIN  OR- 
GANS     127 

IV. —  INJURIES  FROM  ACCIDENTS  .        .        .        -133 
V.  —  REGULATION  OF  HOURS  OF  LABOR     .        .136 

VI.  —  DURATION  OF  LIFE  IN  VARIOUS  OCCUPA- 
TIONS   142 

NOTE 145 

INDEX 146 


School  and  Industrial  Hygiene. 


PART    I. 
SCHOOL    HYGIENE. 


CHAPTER    I. 

GENERAL   REMARKS. 

THE  period  at  which  we  live  is  witnessing  great 
changes  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  education, 
from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  grades.  The  nature 
of  the  child's  mind  has  been  studied,  his  powers 
gauged,  and  his  growth  measured  by  a  Pestalozzi,  a 
Froebel,  a  Combe,  a  Chadwick,  a  Bowditch.  Every- 
body knows  that  children  do  not  like  to  sit  still  long 
at  a  time ;  that  their  minds  easily  wander ;  that  they 
have  an  instinctive  dislike  to  certain  studies.  This 
restlessness  of  mind  and  body,  this  dislike  to  certain 
mental  foods,  were  regarded  by  the  old  masters  as 
simply  undesirable  elements  in  character,  to  be 
curbed  and  chained,  and  overcome  by  force  of  dis* 

7 


8  SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

cipline.  The  modern  tendency  is  in  a  very  different 
direction ;  it  studies  the  natural  behavior  of  chil- 
dren, and  deduces  from  multiplied  observations  cer- 
tain laws  regarding  their  natural  powers  and  apti- 
tudes, to  which  all  educational  processes  are  subor- 
dinated. 

To  some  extent  the  old  masters  were  right  \  curbs 
have  their  use,  and  "  old-fashioned"  hard  work  ought 
not  to  be  forgotten.  Nor  is  the  newer  education  free 
from  grave  faults  of  its  own ;  or  let  us  rather  say, 
that  right  principles  are  not  yet  fully  adopted  by  all. 
A  great  many  teachers  have  found  that  emulation  is 
a  more  than  effectual  substitute  for  the  rod.  This  is 
one  of  the  most  characteristic  of  modern  improve- 
ments ;  but  its  potency  has  no  sooner  been  discov- 
ered than  it  is  abused,  and  many  a  promising  child, 
within  the  past  thirty  years,  has  wrecked  his  physi- 
cal endurance  for  life,  or  has  permanently  enfeebled 
his  mind  by  excess  of  study  performed  under  the  spur 
of  emulation  or  an  unregulated  sense  of  duty. 

No  theory  of  education  is  satisfactory  thst  does 
not  claim  the  whole  child.  The  State  must  leave  a 
great  many  things  to  the  parents  in  education  ;  but 
it  is  her  duty  to  attend  to  such  things  as  parents  can- 
not be  made  to  attend  to.  Religion  is  a  thing  which 
the  State  does  not  try  to  teach,  assuming  that  parents 
and  churches  can  more  safely  attend  to  it ;  but  mo- 
rality must  be  taught  at  school.  All  schools  assume 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  9 

the  immorality  of  falsehood  and  brutality,  and  the 
paramount  obligation  to  perform  school-tasks.  It 
would  be  easy  to  take  classes  of  ignorant,  poor  chil- 
dren, before  they  reach  the  age  of  street  ruffians 
(which  so  many  become  after  leaving  the  public 
school),  and  not  only  to  show  them,  but  to  convince 
them  of  the  necessity  for  truth,  peaceable  behavior, 
and  respect  for  law,  and  of  the  necessary  connection 
between  duty  or  work  performed  and  the  prosperity 
of  one  and  all.*  In  our  public  schools,  I  think  this 
is  hardly  attempted.  And  yet,  setting  aside  the 
moral,  and  assuming  the  sanitarian,  ground  as  our 
sole  basis,  it  is  assuredly  true  that  these  branches  of 
morals,  and  others  that  might  be  named,  as  punctu- 
ality, cleanliness,  politeness,  and  faithfulness  to  en- 
gagements, are  not  things  which  can  be  neglected. 

Again :  the  food  and  sleep  of  the  child  are  mainly 
beyond  the  control  of  public  schools.  They  are  not 
wholly  so,  however;  and  it  is  a  teacher's  duty  to 
discourage  working  in  improper  hours.  Still  more 
imperatively  is  it  his  duty  to  regulate  the  child's 
needs  in  school-time,  to  see  if  he  is  faint  from  want 
of  food,  to  encourage  and  teach  good  habits,  and  to 
give  opportunity  for  bodily  exercise. 

No  lower  aim  should  content  the  child's  teacher 
than  that  of  improving  all  his  faculties  and  powers — 

*  For  admirable  illustrations  of  this  kind  of  teaching,  see 
George  Combe's  "  Education,"  edited  by  Wm.  Jolly,  1879. 


IO          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

bodily,  mental,  and  moral.  The  teacher  should  feel 
his  obligation  to  his  school  a  patriotic  one,  as 
did  the  Athenian  office-holder,  who  swore,  "  o/«wo 
TtapaScj^tj',"  to  transmit  the  city  over  which  he  ruled 
better  than  when  it  was  put  into  his  hands ;  better  in 
all  respects. 

It  is  my  strong  conviction  that  this  can  be  done 
by  the  public  or  the  State  to  a  greater  extent  than  is 
now  accomplished. 

The  word  "  culture  "  is  as  badly  abused  to-day  as 
the  word  "  sentiment "  was  a  century  ago.  For  vast 
numbers  of  our  people,  the  pursuit  of  culture  resolves 
itself  into  the  reading  of  books  and  the  looking  at 
pictures  and  bric-a-brac  for  the  purpose  of  talking 
about  them.  We  can  easily  widen  this  notion.  The 
culture  (or  development)  of  children  certainly  means 
something  better  than  this.  But  how  much  wider 
and  better  ?  It  is  preposterous  to  educate  all  children 
in  all  branches  of  knowledge.  We  are  already  trying 
to  do  too  much  in  that  direction ;  but  it  is  equally 
preposterous  to  omit  from  culture  the  development  of 
physical  endurance,  moral  soundness,  and  a  good 
practical  judgment.  In  the  case  of  myriads  of  poor 
children  who  leave  school  at  the  ages  of  ten  or 
twelve,  the  opportunities  for  doing  this  are  indeed 
limited — and  are  made  so  by  our  absurd  practice  of 
making  excessively  large  classes ;  but  the  State  should 
never  lose  from  mind  the  object  of  training  these 


GENERAL  REMARKS.  II 

children  up  to  men  and  women.  As  regards  those 
whose  education  is  superior  and  protracted,  there  is 
a  full  opportunity  for  developing  power  and  self-con- 
trol. How  do  we  give  a  young  man  power  to  fight  his 
way  in  the  world  ?  We  put  him  into  a  school  which 
teaches  only  the  brain,  and  only  a  corner  of  that. 
When  he  is  thirty  years  old,  he  will,  assuredly,  not 
be  groaning  that  his  tutors  gave  him  but  too  imperfect 
an  acquaintance  with  the  Greek  lyrists,  or  Visigothic 
numismatology;  he  will  probably  be  wondering  (if 
he  is  an  active  American)  whether  it  pays  to  know 
all  that ;  and  at  forty  he  will  have  discovered  that 
the  one  thing  which  does  pay  in  this  life  is  life  itself; 
that  vital  force  and  endurance  and  a  good  digestion 
are  what  are  needed,  as  much  as  anything  from  books, 
to  insure  success  in  life.  The  President  of  Harvard 
College  states  this  more  strongly  still. 

The  element  of  self-control  and  guidance,  in  cul- 
ture, is  quite  as  much  a  moral  as  an  intellectual  one. 
The  boy  is  taught  how  to  control  his  hand  in  writing 
or  playing,  his  voice  in  speaking  or  singing,  his 
organ  of  language  in  writing  theses.  He  is  not  so 
taught  in  regard  to  the  use  of  his  moral  faculties,  his 
affections,  emotions,  and  passions ;  nor  is  he  s-hown 
how  a  want  of  self-control,  whether  in  the  form  of 
caprice,  indolence,  good-nature,  affection,  or  ambi- 
tion, or  even  when  veiled  under  the  aspect  of  duty, 
may  take  away  the  half  of  the  value  of  his  talents 


12          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

and  knowledge.  Perhaps  these  remarks  would  be 
more  forcible  if  applied  to  girls  and  young  women, 
in  whom  self-restraint  is  not  commonly  thought  a 
necessity,  and  the  feelings  naturally  take  the  place  of 
reflection. 

All  that  can  be  said  against  over-study  must  be  re- 
versed when  we  speak  of  moderate  and  rational  study. 
Overwork  ought  not  to  be  allowed,  on  the  one  hand ; 
and  on  the  other,  indolence  must  not  be  permitted. 
It  is  little  to  say  that  study  ought  not  to  be  allowed 
to  injure  the  health.  We  may  say  much  more :  it  is 
capable  of  improving  health ;  and  for  many  persons 
it  is  an  indispensable  means  of  health.  A  child  who 
has  been  kept  at  suitable  tasks  unconsciously  misses 
them  when  they  come  to  an  end.  Civilized  and 
reading  beings  (I  assume  that  a  civilized,  awakened, 
informed,  and  interested  mind  is  a  desideratum  !)  must 
have  something  for  the  mind  to  work  upon,  or  they 
fret  themselves  with  ennui.  Much  study  may  be  a 
weariness  to  the  flesh ;  it  may  give  dyspepsia  by  being 
allowed  to  encroach  on  physical  duties ;  but  when  a 
person  has  learned  to  hold  the  proper  proportion  be- 
tween these  two,  there  is  nothing  that  he  finds  more 
conducive  to  peace,  satisfaction,  and  comfort.  This 
pleasant  result  always  follows  when  one  has  accom- 
plished work  which  he  is  fitted  for ;  and  to  deny  an 
individual  his  intellectual  exercise  is  as  truly  a  dam- 
age to  the  body  as  is  the  deprivation  of  physical  ex- 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  13 

ercise.  For  want  of  accustomed  mental  stimulus  and 
work,  many  a  man  (it  is  an  old  story)  has  found  that 
his  retirement  from  active  business  was  his  death- 
warrant. 

School-life,  however,  seems  to  have  some  injurious 
effects  on  the  health  and  growth  of  some  children. 
Very  often  it  is  not  the  school  that  injures  a  child, 
but  the  fact  that  the  child  is  living  in  a  city  and  has 
no  place  to  run  out-of-doors.  Very  often  it  is  not 
study  at  all  that  hurts,  but  study  in  hot  or  close  or 
badly-lighted  rooms ;  or  study  may  be  in  excess  of 
the  powers  of  the  system.  Such  points  as  these  will 
receive  our  present  attention. 

2 


CHAPTER    II. 

EMOTIONAL   AND    MENTAL   STRAIN. 

"C  MOTIONAL  STRAIN.— Teachers  are  fully  aware 
!_/  that  this  is  a  fluctuating  factor  in  each  child,  de- 
pendent on  the  weather,  fatigue,  excitement,  and 
other  circumstances. 

Of  these  circumstances,  those  which  affect  the 
equilibrium  of  power  are  among  the  most  import- 
ant. There  is  a  large  class  of  irregular  mental  or 
emotional  states  which  are  unfavorable  to  the  com- 
plete health  and  steady  activity  of  the  mind.  The  so- 
called  depressing  emotions — timidity,  despondency, 
anxiety,  and  discontent — often  interfere  with  the 
mental  health,  producing  actual  and  very  marked 
lowering  of  the  powers  of  execution.  No  scholar 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  remain  under  the  influence  of 
them.  It  is  the  teacher's  place  to  find  out  the  cause, 
and  remove  it  if  possible.  In  a  certain  number  of 
cases,  they  may  be  due  to  unkindness  or  neglect  com- 
ing from  the  teacher  or  the  playmates.  A  neglect  to 
award  merited  praise  either  wounds  or  hardens  the 
one  who  feels  the  injustice.  Again,  all  these  de- 


EMOTIONAL   AND   MENTAL   STRAIN.  15 

pressed  states  may  be  simply  a  sign  of  over-work, 
want  of  exercise,  bad  air,  want  of  sleep  or  food, 
etc. 

A  child  must  not  be  spared  all  that  is  irksome. 
Quite  the  contrary  of  this,  the  performance  of  irk- 
some duty  is  one  of  the  best  lessons  taught  in  school. 
But  it  is  undesirable  that  he  should  feel  the, object 
of  his  study  a  worthless  one,  or  should  find  his  best 
efforts  unsuccessful.  I  venture  to  suggest  that,  in 
these  respects,  the  teacher  needs  as  much  of  our 
sympathy  as  the  scholar.  Too  much  drudgery  is 
laid  upon  her  in  correcting  exercises,  looking  over 
examination  books  and  papers,  making  up  averages 
of  marks,  weekly  and  monthly  reports,  and  other 
"school  statistics."  It  is  hard  and  unsatisfactory  to 
have  to  give  hours  of  the  time  needed  for  mental  re- 
freshment to  the  production  of  a  few  numerical  re- 
sults, which  are  probably  destined  to  lie  idle  on  a 
shelf. 

Mental  Strain. — There  is  a  great  deal  of  harm 
done  by  excessive  urging  or  over-driving  of  children 
in  school,  as  the  reader  must  be  aware.  Yet,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  are  many  scholars  whose  natures 
need  this  urging,  and  are  not  properly  developed  with- 
out it.  If  a  given  degree  of  "pressure"  seems  to 
the  teacher's  judgment  moderate,  how  shall  it  be 
decided  to  be  excessive  by  persons  who  are  not  wit- 
nesses ?  Who  is  a  better  judge  than  the  teacher  of 


l6          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

what  constitutes  a  fair  amount  of  work  ?  In  reply,  it 
should  be  said  that  a  parent  knows  more  about  a 
child,  in  the  generality  of  cases,  than  a  teacher.* 
It  is  a  parent's  eye  that  can  best  see  when  the  child 
is  "unlike  himself;"  and  the  parent  is  justified  in 
feeling  anxiety  whenever  the  child  loses  sleep  and 
the  desire  for  food  and  play. 

The  means  by  which  children  are  urged  are  well 
known,  consisting  of  credits,  rank,  prizes,  public  ex- 
hibitions, and  the  moral  influence  of  a  teacher  of 
strenuous  disposition.  It  will  not  do  to  condemn 
all  of  these  at  once,  for  they  have  arguments  in  their 
favor.  But,  as  a  general  thing,  the  giving  of  prizes, 
or  at  least  public  displays  upon  the  stage,  may  safely 
be  forbidden  in  the  case  of  girls  as  useless,  if  not 
harmful.  Their  nervous  system  responds  too  quickly 
to  such  stimuli. 

If  there  be  novels  which  do  harm  "  by  giving  false 
views  of  life,"  are  there  not  schools  for  girls  which 
do  precisely  the  same  thing,  by  the  excessive  im- 
portance which  they  allow  the  pupils  to  attach  to  a 
paltry  gift,  or,  far  worse,  to  success  in  beating 
rivals  ? 

The  scholar's  future  health  cannot  but  be  bene- 
fited by  an  effort  to  conquer  indolence ;  but — to  re- 
turn to  our  chief  point — children  ought  in  some  cases 

*  Especially  if  the  child  be  one  among  fifty-six,  who  remain 
only  five  months  with  one  teacher. 


EMOTIONAL   AND  MENTAL   STRAIN.  I/ 

to  be  allowed  to  seem  indolent,  for  reasons  elsewhere 
indicated ;  and  it  is  palpably  unsafe  to  subject  all 
scholars  to  an  equal  pressure. 

"Over-driven"  children  will  often  study  late  and 
sleep  poorly ;  they  then  rise  late,  dress  in  haste,  and 
rush  for  school  in  dread  of  a  mark  for  tardiness,  often 
not  pausing  to  sit  down  at  the  breakfast-table.  They 
thus  enter  on  the  day's  work  with  an  exhausted  and 
irritable  system,  which  does  not  have  a  chance  during 
the  forenoon — so  taken  up  is  it  with  school-thoughts — 
to  remember  its  need  for  repair  and  rest.  The  lunch- 
eon-basket probably  contains  food  suited  to  attract 
a  jaded  system  and  to  produce  dyspepsia — cake  and 
pie  and  doughnuts.  The  child  finishes  the  school- 
tasks,  and  goes  home  with  an  armful  of  books  and  an 
aching  head — in  need  of  food  and  rest  and  pjay,  but 
hardly  aware  of  either,  and  intent  simply  on  learning 
the  next  day's  lessons.  There  is  no  recovery  from 
this  strain,  for  the  lessons  are  not  learned  until  bed- 
time, when  the  experience  of  the  day  before  is  re- 
peated, and  so  on  day  after  day  until  the  fixed  term 
expires. 

This  over-work  is  unfortunately  apt  to  occur  at  the 
very  time  of  the  year  when  the  system  is  least  able  to 
bear  it.  The  " exhibition's,"  the  closing  examina- 
tions, and  the  stress  of  the  struggle  for  prizes,  come 
in  the  months  of  April,  May,  and  June,  when  the 
body  craves  fresh  air  and  the  eyes  long  for  green 
2*  B 


1 8          SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  HYGIENE. 

fields ;  when,  too,  the  powers  of  the  system  begin  to 
flag  from  the  withdrawal  of  the  stimulus  of  cold, 
which  has  kept  them  strung  up  to  a  higher  pitch  all 
the  winter.  This  constitutes  a  very  serious  objection 
to  the  present  system  of  school-exhibitions.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  teachers  are  not  exempt  from  this 
strain. 


CHAPTER   III. 

FOOD    AND   SLEEP. 

THIS  is  the  place  to  finish  what  needs  to  be  said 
regarding  food  and  sleep. 

The  logical  connection  is  quite  obvious.  Study  is 
a  consuming  of  certain  materials  contained  in  the 
brain  and  the  blood ;  food  and  sleep  are  the  means 
by  which  this  loss  is  made  good,  and  the  mind  placed 
in  a  fit  condition  to  resume  work.  The  system  of  a 
child  who  is  studying  to  excess  is  becoming  exhausted ; 
it  loses  its  powers  in  various  directions ;  the  muscu- 
lar endurance  may  be  enfeebled  ;  the  digestion  is  very 
apt  to  fail ;  appetite  for  food  is  lost,  with  the  power 
to  digest  food ;  and  sleep  is  very  apt  to  be  poor.  It 
is  pretty  safe  to  say  that  a  child  who  eats  and  sleeps 
well  is  not  much  over-driven.  There  is  a  natural 
antagonism  between  active  study  and  active  digestion. 
A  nourishing  meal  indisposes  a  healthy  person  to  ac- 
tive mental  exertion  ;  and,  vice  versa,  active  study  or 
mental  excitement  takes  away  appetite,  or  at  least 
enfeebles  the  digestive  power  for  a  time.  What  we 
say  of  hard  study  is  equally  true  of  hard  play.  After 

19 


2O          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

hard  study  or  play  there  should  be  an  interval  for 
relaxation  or  cooling-down  before  a  meal  is  eaten. 
Nothing  could  be  more  injudicious  than  a  programme 
which  allows  only  one  hour  for  dinner,  following  a 
forenoon  of  study,  and  followed  by  an  afternoon  of 
study.  If  it  be  thought  desirable  for  young  adults  to 
make  the  day  as  full  as  possible,  it  will  be  much  better 
to  have  an  intermission  of  two  hours  at  noon-time. 
And  persons  not  adults  should  always  obey  a  rule 
which  places  an  hour's  interval  between  dinner  and 
study,  and  at  least  half  an  hour  between  breakfast 
or  tea  and  study.  All  the  meals  must  be  nourishing, 
and  stimulants,  such  as  tea,  or  coffee  in  particular, 
should  form  no  part  of  them.  If  the  proper  amount 
of  sleep  is  had,  there  is  very  little  time  for  study  in 
the  evening.  The  child  should  sleep  ten  hours  at 
the  age  of  twelve  years;  nine  hours  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  or  fifteen ;  and  eight  hours  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  or  eighteen.  It  is  not  necessary  that  he 
should  indulge  in  the  habit  (salutary  for  many  adults) 
of  taking  a  nap  after  meals. 

At  the  "Smith  College, "  at  Northampton,  Mass., 
the  young  ladies  are  expected  to  be  in  bed  at  ten 
o'clock,  and  are  strongly  advised  not  to  rise  before 
six  o'clock.  The  students  are  of  the  usual  "college 
age,"  say  from  eighteen  to  twenty-one. 

Study  or  exercise  before  breakfast  is  not  generally 
to  be  allowed ;  it  will  do  harm  to  many  children. 


FOOD  AND  SLEEP.  21 

Excessively  long  intervals  between  meals  are  of 
course  to  be  avoided,  or  to  be  broken  by  solid  lunch- 
eons. If  the  above  amount  of  sleep  be  allowed, 
there  will  not  be  time  for  more  than  three  regular 
meals  and  a  lunch. 

Late  dinners  are  apt  to  interfere  with  children's 
sleep ;  if,  for  instance,  the  family  meal  is  from  six  to 
seven,  and  the  children  go  to  bed  from  eight  to  nine. 
A  hearty,  comfortable  dinner  about  the  noon-time  is 
much  better.  It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  afternoon 
session  is  likely  to  be  rather  a  sleepy  one ;  this  should 
induce  the  judicious  teacher  to  shorten  the  session, 
and  to  prefer  manual  tasks  (writing,  drawing,  etc.) 
rather  than  those  that  call  for  thought.  Afternoon 
lessons  add  very  little  to  the  child's  stock  of  knowledge. 

Is  there  an  antagonism  between  food  and  study  ? 
Is  the  mind  paralyzed  by  the  contact  with  the  gross 
material  aliment?  If  it  be  so,  why  not  make  the 
practical  inference,  and  reduce  the  amount  of  food  in 
order  to  study  better  ?  This  proposition,  insane  as 
it  looks  to  one  who  understands  the  physiological  law 
of  our  living,  is  no  doubt  seriously  acted  upon  by 
many  ambitious  scholars.  To  such  I  would  say — 
though  with  small  hope  of  being  heard — that  it  is  no 
disgrace  to  the  mind  that  it  is  attached  to  a  body. 
Its  Creator  has  willed  it  so,  and  for  this  life  it  must  be 
so.  To  give  a  body  insufficient  food,  and  to  exact 
a  full  task  from  the  brain,  is  slow  suicide.  The  nour- 


22          SCHOOL  AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

ishment  goes  to  the  brain,  while  the  rest  of  the  body 
grows  puny,  and  the  foundation  of  slow  diseases, 
such  as  consumption,  is  often  laid.  True,  there  have 
been  men  and  women  with  whom  sedentary  habits 
and  a  spare  diet  have  agreed  perfectly ;  but  with  most 
men  and  women  the  result  is  dyspepsia,  melancholy, 
and  a  tendency  to  consumption  or  insanity ;  and  as 
to  children,  or  persons  under  twenty,  a  sedentary  life 
with  spare  diet  is  a  pure  absurdity.  There  are  telling 
maxims,  indeed,  insisting  that  we  should  rescue  hours 
from  the  night  and  add  them  to  our  lives,  and  com- 
paring sleep  to  death : 

"  Stulte,  quid  est  somnus,  gelidse  nisi  mortis  imago  ?" 

but,  before  you  acknowledge  their  force,  go  and  look 
at  the  sleep  of  a  healthy  child.  If  you  are  alarmed 
at  being  drowsy  after  eating,  recollect  that  the  bright- 
est fire  is  dulled  for  a  little  while  after  fuel  is  put  on. 

In  connection  with  institutions  for  large  boys  and 
girls, — '  *  colleges, ' '  as  they  are  sometimes  called, — it 
may  be  desirable  to  establish  a  cheap  lunch-counter, 
which  furnishes  an  inducement  to  eat  solid  and  whole- 
some food  rather  than  a  stale  mess  brought  from 
homes  at  great  distances. 

Americans,  in  general,  eat  a  great  deal  of  trash. 
They  are  brought  up  to  it.  The  subject  is  rather  a 
wide  one,  but  it  may  be  of  service  to  indicate  what 
is  not  trash :  A  plenty  of  roast  and  less  of  boiled 


FOOD  AND  SLEEP.  2$ 

meat;  a  few  soups  made  secundum  artem;  a  fair  va- 
riety of  plain  vegetables;  an  occasional  treat  of  the 
best  fruit,  with  abundant  supplies  of  apples ;  good 
bread  of  more  than  one  sort ;  a  daily  and  abundant 
ration  of  the  simplest  and  most  strengthening  food, 
such  as  oatmeal  or  Indian-meal  mush,  with  milk; 
and,  for  drinks,  water,  milk,  coffee  which  contains  as 
little  of  the  original  bean  as  possible,  tea  that  is  not 
too  strong,  or  diluted  cocoa.  Such  a  dietary,  without 
the  compounds  commonly  used  for  dessert,  but  aided 
by  fresh  air,  sunlight,  and  plenty  of  play,  makes 
healthy  children.  Fish  and  eggs  and  milk  are  also 
necessary,  but  should  not  be  eaten  under  the  impres- 
sion that  they  "make  brain." 

The  boarding-schools  of  our  country  have  a  great 
opportunity  for  implanting  habits  of  simple  and  whole- 
some living.  If  such  schools  furnish  unwholesome 
diet,  they  do  it  in  imitation  of  the  ordinary  habits 
of  society.  In  a  well-conducted  school,  on  the  other , 
hand, — where  enough  of  the  best  and  simplest  is 
given, —  it  is  not  uncommon  for  pupils  to  come  from 
the  indulgences  of  home  and  holidays  dyspeptic  and 
flabby,  and  to  become  brighter  and  stronger  as  soon 
as  they  are  subjected  to  the  regimen  of  school. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

BODILY    GROWTH. 

IF  youth  be  a  formative  period,  whose  product  is 
simply  the  adult  person,  then,  surely,  that  period 
when  formation  is  most  rapid, —  when  a  new  being 
par  excellence  is  developing, — deserves  the  greatest 
respect  and  care.  In  the  case  of  boys,  growth  goes 
on  at  a  nearly  uniform  rate  until  manhood.  Girls, 
however,  concentrate  a  great  deal  of  growth  in  a 
few  years.  They  are  shorter  and  weigh  less  than 
boys  until  the  age  of  eleven  or  twelve,  when  they 
,  suddenly  shoot  beyond  them,  and,  for  about  three 
years,  continue  decidedly  taller  and  heavier,  after 
which  they  resume  the  former  relative  position.*  It 
would  seem  reasonable  to  suppose  that  girls  at  this 
age  are  less  capable  of  mental  application  than  boys; 
for  it  is  a  general  rule  of  Nature,  that  when  a  great 
demand  is  made  on  the  system  by  one  set  of  func- 
tions others  must  remain  in  comparative  abeyance, 

*  Prof.  H.  P.  Bowditch,  in  "  Eighth  Annual  Report  of  Mas- 
sachusetts State  Board  of  Health." 

24 


BODILY  GROWTH.  2$ 

and  that  when  growth  is  very  rapid,  mental  action  is 
proportionally  less  so.  If  girls  are  often  found 
quicker  and  brighter  than  boys  at  this  age,  it  may, 
nevertheless,  be  questioned  whether  it  is  right  to 
allow  them  to  come  in  competition  with  boys ;  for 
pluck  and  vivacity  are  not,  necessarily,  evidence  of 
power. 

After  this  age  —  that  is,  about  fourteen  and  fifteen, 
in  most  cases  —  comes  the  time  when  girls  are  under- 
going a  change  which  affects  the  whole  system  in  a 
different  way  from  mere  rapidity  of  growth, — a  change 
which,  if  effected  quietly  and  normally,  may  be  said 
to  have  laid  the  foundation  of  the  happiness  and 
health  of  an  entire  life.  At  this  period,  if  at  no 
other,  a  girl  should  be  protected  from  the  excitement 
of  "society"  and  late  hours,  and  should  receive  the 
support  and  steadying  which  regular  habits  of  study 
impart.  It  is  a  more  directly  practical  thing  to  say 
that  she  ought  to  be  treated  with  leniency  at  certain 
times ;  her  work  should  be  lightened,  her  errors  ex- 
cused, her  inattention  or  unreadiness  overlooked,  and 
absence  from  school  allowed  if  requested. 

Many  young  girls  have  grown  up  to  be  strong  and 
useful  women,  and  have  never  been  aware  that  their 
mental  powers  were  less  under  control  than  those  of 
boys  of  their  own  age, — their  school-fellows, — or  that 
there  was  any  physical'necessity  for  their  studying  less 
than,  or  differently  from,  their  brothers.  Especially 
3 


26          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

is  this  true  of  country  girls  brought  up  without  the 
excitements  of  society. 

The  late  Dr.  E.  H.  Clarke,  of  Boston,  was  of  the 
opinion  that  our  system  of  public  school  education 
was  ruining  the  health  .of  vast  numbers  of  young 
women,  by  compelling  them  to  study  to  excess,  par- 
ticularly at  the  monthly  period.  His  opinion  was 
vigorously  stated  in  a  little  book,  published  a  few 
years  since,  entitled  "  Sex  in  Education,"  Equally 
vigorous  counter-statements  were  made  in  the  books 
called  "Sex  and  Education,"  "No  Sex  in  Educa- 
tion," "The  Education  of  American  Girls,"  and 
in  other  places ;  and  quite  a  salutary  storm  arose, 
which  has  resulted,  it  may  be  hoped,  in  leaving  the 
public  impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  subject, 
if  nothing  more. 

I  would  here  refer  the  reader  to  two  of  the  follow- 
ing chapters — that  on  Amount  of  Study  and  that  on 
Exercise.  It  seems  to  me  fair  to  say  that  the  growing 
girl  would  not  generally  suffer  from  her  studies  if 
they  were  restricted  within  the  limits  hereafter  sug- 
gested, and  if  her  physical  development  were  cared 
for  properly.  A  healthy  girl  —  such  as  nine  out  of 
ten  ought  to  be  —  need  not  suffer  in  health  from  reg- 
ular attendance  on  school  for  three  or  four  or  five 
hours  a  day,  if  she  is  protected  from  "society"  and 
given  a  fair  chance  to  grow  strong.  The  harm  is 
done  when  a  girl  goes  to  the  theatre  or  concert,  and 


BODILY  GROWTH.  2*J 

appears  the  next  morning  in  school  with  a  worn  and 
tired  look  and  two  great  circles  around  her  eyes. 
The  harm,  indeed,  is  done  long  before,  when  she 
first  comes  to  live  in  a  city  where  public  parks  are 
thought  unsafe  for  her  to  walk  in,  and  where  play  in 
the  open  air  (except  for  "children" — that  is,  very 
small  girls)  is  an  impossible  or  a  forbidden  thing. 
It  begins  with  that  substitution  of  artificial  for  natu- 
ral enjoyments,  of  society  and  its  excitements  for 
sports,  of  adult  for  childish  interests,  which  is  char- 
acteristic of  city  life.  Many  such  girls  are  thought 
to  be  overworked  if  they  lose  their  color,  while  study- 
ing four  or  five  hours  a  day,  at  the  age  of  fifteen. 


CHAPTER    V. 

AMOUNT    OF   STUDY . 

"T^XCESS  of  mental  application  is  any  amount 
JI^  which  interferes  with  the  vegetative  functions, 
/.  e.}  anything  which,  by  its  intensity  or  long  continu- 
ance, or  by  any  peculiarity  of  its  own,  interferes  with 
digestion,  sleep,  nutrition,  repair,  or  development. 

As  the  reader  is  perfectly  aware,  the  cell-structure 
called  brain  is  in  need  of  constant  repair,  equally 
with  other  structures;  and  this  repair  is  effected  by 
processes  termed  "  vegetative." 

Muscles,  stomach,  and  brain  equally  require  vege- 
tative activity  in  order  to  keep  them  in  condition; 
and  each  may  suffer  from  over-activity  without  im- 
pairing the  health  of  the  others.  But,  in  general, 
overwork  of  one  tells  disadvantageous^  upon  all, 
and  an  unsound  or  overburdened  mind  is  apt  to  act 
like  a  burden  upon  the  body. 

The  amount  of  work  to  be  assigned  must  be  de- 
termined empirically,  and  we  have  no  right  to  say  of 
a  given  person,  in  advance  of  experience,  that  he  is 
capable  of  doing  a  certain  amount  of  work.  But  we 

28 


AMOUNT  OF  STUDY.  2Q 

can,  as  the  result  of  experience,  give  an  approximate 
statement  of  the  amount  which  is  suitable  to  the  av- 
erage person  at  a  given  age. 

As  has  been  said  before,  children  can  be  aroused 
by  modern  methods  to  a  great  spontaneous  activity 
of  mind,  which  contrasts  strongly  with  the  listless 
and  reluctant  attention  of  old-fashioned  schools. 
The  effect  is  obtained  by  adapting  the  instruction  to 
the  child's  capacity  and  nature.  The  kindergarten 
system  is  one  of  the  most  striking  instances  of  this. 
I  do  not  mention  it  either  for  praise  or  blame,  but 
simply  in  order  to  point  out  the  fact  that,  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances — cheerfulness,  pleasant 
and  varied  tasks,  sympathy,  and  wholesome  surround- 
ings— a  child  at  the  kindergarten  age  has  not  the 
power  to  bear  more  than  two  or  three  hours  of  these 
tasks  in  a  day  consistently  with  health.  If  pursued 
longer,  the  work  becomes  too  exciting. 

The  late  Mr.  Edwin  Chadwick,  of  England,  is  the 
chief  authority  for  a  definite  statement  of  the  num- 
ber of  hours  that  a  child  should  be  allowed  to  do 
school-work.  His  statements  are  based  on  long  and 
patient  observation,  and  numerous  inquiries  made  of 
teachers  whose  attention  was  especially  called  to  the 
point ;  and  I  do  not  think  that  any  one  has  seriously 
attempted  to  refute  his  views,  which  were  published 
a  number  of  years  ago. 

In  the  first  place,  he  points  out  the  obvious  inabil- 
3* 


30          SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  HYGIENE. 

ity  of  the  little  child  to  pay  attention  for  a  length  of 
time  consecutively.  The  mind,  like  the  body,  must 
be  in  a  continual  change ;  the  efforts  made  must  re- 
semble play  in  spontaneity,  rapidity,  and  variety. 
Sedentary  occupation  is  an  enforced  necessity  with 
most  adults,  to  some  extent ;  but  it  is  always  to  be 
considered  as  involving  possible  danger,  and  for  a 
little  child  is  almost  out  of  the  question.  His  brain 
is  imperfectly  developed  ;  the  power  of  attention  is 
perfect,  but  incapable  of  sustained  efforts ;  the  mind 
refuses  to  work  long  in  one  direction,  as  the  body  re- 
fuses to  stand  or  sit  still.  There  are  certain  classes 
of  work  which  are  utterly  beyond  his  power  ;  and  yet 
there  is  no  doubt  at  all  that  a  little  child  learns  as 
much,  if  not  more,  in  a  year  as  an  adult  student. 
But  he  learns  it  in  his  own  way,  and  it  is  not  book 
knowledge. 

Let  the  adult  reader  try  to  attend  to  a  new  subject ; 
let  him  take,  for  example,  a  treatise  on  metaphysics, 
or  anatomy,  or  vital  statistics,  or  a  "  Student's  Gib- 
bon/' or  some  other  work  which  demands  close  at- 
tention ;  let  the  work  be  unfamiliar,  not  beyond  his 
comprehension,  not  too  interesting,  and  let  him  see 
how  soon  his  mind  begins  to  flag  in  the  effort  to 
master  the  text,  as  if  it  were  a  lesson  to  be  recited. 
He  will  find,  perhaps,  at  the  end  of  an  hour,  not  that 
the  subject  is  merely  uninteresting,  but  that  his  mind 
does  not  take  hold  of  it  as  sharply  as  when  he  began ; 


AMOUNT  OF  STUDY.  31 

perhaps,  if  he  is  "  tough/'  he  can  stand  two  hours. 
This,  by  the  way,  is  quite  a  different  thing  from  an 
irresponsible,  leisurely  reading  of  the  brilliant  narra- 
tion of  a  Parkman  or  a  Froude. 

If  an  adult  can  apply  himself  to  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge  in  one  direction  for  only  one  hour  (and 
how  much  longer  can  an  audience  listen  to  a  lecture?), 
the  child  can  evidently  do  very  much  less.  At  the  age 
of  from  five  to  seven  he  can  attend  to  one  subject — a 
single  lesson — for  fifteen  minutes  ;  a  child  from  seven 
to  ten  years  of  age,  about  twenty  minutes ;  from  ten  to 
twelve  years,  about  twenty- five  minutes  ;  from  twelve 
to  sixteen  or  eighteen  years,  about  thirty  minutes. 
(Chad  wick.) 

The  total  of  daily  work  corresponds  with  the  limits 
of  a  single  effort.  Ten  hours'  work  is  a  maximum 
average  for  young  men  ;  and  there  is  a  regular  grad- 
ation from  this  down  to  two  and  a  half  or  three  hours 
for  children  under  seven. 

The  most  vigorous  and  healthy  young  men  are  se- 
lected for  West  Point,  and  they  are  severely  win- 
nowed by  the  work  required  of  them.  They  are 
excluded  from  dissipation  and  general  society ;  their 
active  bodily  exercise,  their  regular  diet  and  sleep, 
and  the  healthful  climate  of  the  place,  leave  nothing 
to  be  desired.  They  have  ten  hours  a  day  for  the  six 
cold  months ;  in  summer  much  less.  In  our  colleges, 
where  the  students  are  not  picked  for  their  physique, 


32          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

the  average  actual  work  (study  and  recitation)  among 
those  who  are  faithful  to  their  work  will  not  probably 
exceed  eight  or  nine  hours,  as  far  as  my  observation 
goes. 

In  high-schools,  during  the  period  of  rapid  growth 
and  sexual  development,  a  lower  figure  must  be  as- 
sumed ;  and  it  seems  certain  that  five  hours,  or,  under 
the  most  favorable  circumstances,  six,  are  all  that 
should  be  required.  The  ages  usually  range  from 
twelve  to  seventeen. 

Below  the  age  of  twelve  years,  four  hours  are  prob- 
ably sufficient ;  below  ten  years,  three  or  three  and  a 
half;  below  seven  years,  two  and  a  half  or  three 
hours. 

In  England  a  very  large  number  of  children  (over 
100,000,  at  my  latest  information)  are  sent  to  school 
on  the  so-called  half-time  plan.  This  plan  is  the 
result  of  an  attempt  by  the  Government  to  suppress 
the  evils  of  juvenile  labor  in  manufactories.  The 
children  attend  school  about  three  hours  a  day  during 
the  school-year,  and  those  hours  are  taken  out  of 
their  factory-time.  It  is  found  that  children  thus 
taught  make  as  good  progress  as  those  who  attend 
school  six  hours  a  day.  This  result  is  probably  a 
mixed  one,  due,  partly,  to  the  beneficial  effects  of 
change  of  occupation,  and  partly  to  the  fact  that  six 
hours  are  clearly  beyond  the  limit  of  profitable  men- 
tal exertion.  Something  must  also  be  ascribed  to  the 


AMOUNT  OF  STUDY.  33 

regularity  of  attendance  in  half-time  schools,  which 
is  enforced  under  the  penalty  of  exclusion  from  the 
factory.* 

At  what  age  should  a  child  be  sent  to  school? 
The  kindergarten  does  not  injure  a  child  of  four 
years  unless  carried  to  the  point  of  over-excitement, 
which,  I  believe,  is  not  often  done.  The  common 
primary  school,  however,  is  decidedly  objectionable. 
It  takes  very  young  children  (six  years  of  age),  and 
compels  them  to  remain  twice  as  long  as  is  good  for 
them.  By  great  ingenuity  and  vivacity,  a  teacher 
can  keep  them  going  upon  various  studies  for  three 
hours.  This  is  all  that  is  reasonably  possible,  yet 
the  children  are  expected  to  come  back  for  a  second 
session  in  the  afternoon.  A  school  conducted  by  set 
lessons  and  recitations — a  mimic  grammar-school,  in 
fact  —  should  not  receive  children  under  seven  or 
eight  years  of  age. 

*  See    Reports  of  the    Massachusetts    Bureau  of  Labor  for 

1871,  1875,  and  l878- 

C 


CHAPTER    VI. 

EXERCISE. 

IN  spite  of  all  that  may  be  justly  said  of  the  value 
of  intellectual  pursuits  in  promoting  health,  it 
remains  true  that  a  great  many  brain-workers  are 
exposed  to  a  serious  danger.  The  effects  of  unre- 
lieved work  with  the  mind  are  not  always  easy  to 
trace.  In  the  case  of  teachers,  the  system  gets  so 
gradually  used  to  a  low  tone  of  physical  life  that  one 
forgets  the  sensation  of  health,  loses  a  standard  for 
self- comparison,  and  does  not  become  aware  that 
ground  is  really  lost  until  matters  are  already  serious. 
To  a  person  in  vigorous  health,  with  strong  muscles, 
who  feels  his  temper  and  digestion  giving  way  under 
the  influence  of  teaching,  heavy  gymnastics  or  field- 
sports  of  an  active  sort  may  be  recommended.  To 
the  less  vigorous  or  muscular  person,  and  to  most 
women  who  teach,  a  daily  walk  of  from  half  an  hour 
to  two  hours  is  necessary.  It  should  be  taken  in 
company ;  care  should  be  left  at  home ;  new  scenes 
sought,  and  the  object  should  be  less  to  get  fatigue 
by  great  exertions  than  to  give  the  mind  an  oppor- 

34 


EXERCISE.  35 

tunity  to  take  a  view  of  life  which  school-work  does 
not  give.  One  chief  benefit  of  walking  is  that  it 
breaks  up  trains  of  thought. 

It  is  certainly  worth  while  for  women  to  cultivate 
muscularity,  if  they  can  do  so  with  safety.  A  great 
many  could  walk  five  miles  a  day,  and  be  the  better 
for  it ;  others  could  not :  and  the  way  to  find  out  is 
by  trying.  Beginning  with  two  miles,  one  may  grad- 
ually work  up  to  five  in  the  course  of  five  weeks. 
Perhaps  it  may  be  necessary  to  restrict  the  amount ; 
but  this  must  be  learned  by  trial. 

Some  persons,  especially  teachers,  ought  to  enjoy 
almost  absolute  rest  on  Sundays.  Few  are  really 
aware  of  the  value  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  physical  agent 
of  health.  The  teacher  should  so  use  it  as  to  get  a 
sense  of  renewed  life  every  Monday,  and,  unless  in 
most  vigorous  health,  should  certainly  not  teach  jn 
the  Sunday-school. 

It  is  difficult  to  state  with  accuracy  the  precise 
time  when  the  frame  of  the  body  takes  a  permanent 
form  j  it  certainly  varies  in  different  cases  ;  but  it  is 
plain  enough  that  there  is  a  great  difference  between 
the  years  before  twenty  and  those  after.  The  re- 
quirements of  a  growing  body,  it  cannot  be  too  often 
repeated,  are  very  different  from  those  of  an  adult 
body.  We  urge  gymnastics  upon  the  adult  in  order 
to  preserve  the  constitution  ;  upon  the  child,  in  order 
to  form  it.  Circumstances  often  forbid  the  systematic 


36          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL    HYGIENE. 

pursuit  of  gymnastics  by  adults ;  children  have,  or 
should  have,  no  engagements  or  occupations  to  inter- 
fere with  it. 

The  benefits  of  gymnastics  are  of  several  sorts. 
Children  are  not  to  practise  them  chiefly  for  the  sake 
of  gaining  great  strength.  They  are  to  be  used  as  a 
means  of  conferring  grace  of  movement  and  the  out- 
lines which  indicate  health  and  endurance;  of  en- 
larging the  chest,  thereby  giving  free  play  to  the  act 
of  breathing  and  the  motion  of  the  heart ;  of  strength- 
ening the  latter  organ  by  degrees ;  of  fortifying  the 
muscular  walls  of  the  abdomen  against  rupture  and 
the  joints  against  accident;  of  confirming  the  habit 
of  liberal  consumption  and  ready  assimilation  of  food 
(though  play  is  better  for  this  object).  All  these  are 
best  attained  by  the  use  of  few  and  light  apparatus ; 
at  least,  in  the  commencement. 

The  word  "calisthenics"  implies  the  imparting 
of  strength  and  beauty.  There  is  a  proverb  that 
"  beauty  is  but  skin  deep;"  a  very  superficial  view, 
indeed.  Beauty  of  form  is  not  skin  deep  ;  it  depends 
on  the  bony  frame,  on  the  development  of  muscles 
over  the  bones,  and  on  the  fatty  layer  over  the  mus- 
cles. A  straight  back  may  be  said  to  be  an  element 
of  beauty ;  round  shoulders  and  a  twisted  spine  are 
an  element  of  the  opposite  quality,  beyond  a  doubt. 

It  is  well  known  to  physicians  that  a  large  number 
of  young  girls  in  cities  have  a  perceptible  tendency 


EXERCISE.  37 

to  distortion  of  the  spine  at  the  growing  period  of 
life.  The  case  is  certainly  aggravated  by  confine- 
ment in  school,  by  want  of  muscular  exercise,  and  by 
improper  positions  in  study.  Boys  do  not  exhibit 
this  tendency  to  so  marked  an  extent;  but  it  is  a 
thing  to  be  constantly  looked  after  in  the  case  of 
girls. 

"In  a  school  of  731  pupils  at  Neufchatel,  62  cases 
of  deviation  of  the  spinal  column  were  observed 
among  350  boys,  and  156  cases  among  381  girls. 
These  results  are  further  stated  not  to  differ  materi- 
ally from  those  of  examinations  made  in  German 
schools.  According  to  Adams,  in  83  per  cent,  of 
782  pupils  (649  cases),  in  which  this  deviation  oc- 
curred, it  was  towards  the  right — probably  in  conse- 
quence of  writing  at  unsuitable  desks.  According  to 
Eulenberg,  in  92  per  cent.  (276)  of  300  cases,  the 
curvature  was  also  to  the  right.  It  is  true  that  these 
curvatures  are  not  always  associated  with  public 
health,  since  they  sometimes  occur  in  a  slight  degree 
to  the  strong  and  well ;  and  it  is  true,  also,  that  they 
may  arise  under  influences  not  peculiar  to  school-life, 
such  as  the  preponderating  use  of  one  or  the  other 
arm  for  any  purpose.  There  can  be  but  little  doubt, 
however,  that  to  the  habit  of  writing  at  unsuitable 
desks  belongs  the  largest  share  of  blame. 

"In  the  statistics  which  I  have  given,  the  spinal 
curvatures  were  found  to  occur  with  much  greater 
4 


38          SCHOOL   AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

frequency  among  girls  than  among  boys,  partly  due, 
no  doubt,  to  the  fact  that  they  play  fewer  active 
games,  and  are,  in  general,  more  restrained  in  their 
movements.  In  a  brief  report  of  a  recent  meeting 
at  Berlin,  of  some  of  the  highest  authorities  of  Ger- 
many, called  together  to  consider  the  entire  subject 
of  the  school  education  of  girls,  I  find  a  notice  of 
an  address  by  Herr  Raaz,  principal  of  a  school  in 
Berlin,  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  common  occur- 
rence of  these  spinal  curvatures  in  his  school,  and 
says  that  he  has  found  the  use  of  gymnastics  to  be 
powerful  in  preventing  them."* 

Children  should  have  several  hours  of  play  every 
day  in  the  open  air,  when  possible.  Vigorous  and 
spontaneous  action  of  this  sort  is  better  than  gymnas- 
tics for  the  general  run  of  children  ;  and  if  girls 
were  allowed  by  social  feelings  to  play  as  boys  do, 
they  would  cease  to  be  so  subject  to  spinal  deformi- 
ties. 

But  a  certain  proportion  of  children  are  not  suited 
by  indiscriminate  play.  They  have  a  tendency  to 
distortion  of  the  spine,  which  is  easily  brought  out 
by  many  forms  of  sport. 

Any  exclusive  use  of  one  side  of  the  body  is  there- 
fore dangerous.  Base-ball  is  a  vigorous  and  useful 
sport ;  but  it  is  occasionally  the  cause  of  lateral  dis- 

*  James  J.  Putnam,  M.D.  "  Gymnastics  for  Schools,"  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Social  Science,  No.  VIII.,  1876. 


EXERCISE.  39 

tortion,  owing  to  the  excessive  use  of  the  right  arm 
and  hand.  Bowling  would  seem  likely  to  have  the 
same  tendency.  Croquet  is  a  very  distorting  game, 
unless  both  hands  are  used  alternately,  or  one  as  much 
as  the  other,  to  strike  the  ball. 

The  position  of  a  woman  on  horseback  is  one 
which  is  apt  to  cause  a  "corkscrew"  twist  of  the 
spine.  And  the  common  games  of  running  and 
tossing,  which  do  children  so  much  good,  are  not  so 
directly  adapted  to  prevent  or  cure  spinal  deformity, 
or  to  make  a  girl  full-chested  and  symmetrical,  as  is 
a  course  of  gymnastic  training  under  the  charge  of  a 
competent  person. 

Evidently,  if  we  accomplish  this  greater  object  of 
correcting  the  weak  points  in  the  frame  of  a  child, 
we  gain  at  the  same  time  those  benefits  —  improved 
appetite,  complexion,  sleep,  mental  briskness  —  for 
which  adult  gymnasts  so  much  prize  their  art.  As 
for  play,  when  can  the  girls  in  a  city  boarding* 
school,  for  example,  play?  Certainly  not  while  on 
their  daily  walk,  two  by  two,  in  the  paved  streets. 

"  To  establish  a  department  for  physical  training 
demands  but  little  change  in  the  present  school  sys- 
tem, since  almost  any  school-room  may  be  trans- 
formed almost  instantly  into  a  gymnasium,  no  appa- 
ratus being  required  for  the  lower  grades,  and  only  a 
few  light  implements  carried  in  the  hands  for  the 
more  advanced  pupils,  and  each  scholar  needing  only 


4O          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

space  enough  upon  the  floor  for  a  step  in  each  direc- 
tion, and  room  to  straighten  the  arms  in  front  and  at 
the  sides.  Of  the  pupils  the  requirement  is  slight, 
being  merely  that  the  dress  shall  be  short  enough  to 
leave  the  feet  unencumbered,  loose  enough  to  admit 
of  a  full  inhalation  without  feeling  the  clothes  at  the 
waist  or  across  the  chest,  and  large  enough  to  permit 
the  free  play  of  every  muscle  in  the  body.  For  this 
no  special  costume  would  be  required,  except  in  the 
highest  grades.  Music  is  a  great  addition  to  the  ex- 
ercise, but  not  a  necessity.  But  the  great  difficulty, 
and,  in  fact,  the  only  serious  one,  is  the  dearth  of  reg- 
ularly trained  teachers  of  gymnastics,  who  are  not 
only  fully  prepared  for  the  work,  but  who  are  enthu- 
siastic in  the  cause,  and  able  to  impart  their  informa- 
tion to  others.  This  arises  from  the  low  standard  of 
physical  culture  admitted  by  public  opinion.  Let  it 
once  be  required,  that  those  who  teach  this  branch 
shall  of  necessity  be  regularly  trained,  and  there  will 
be  a  supply  of  good  teachers  in  a  marvellously  short 
time."* 

"In  Sweden,  the  celebrated  system  of  Ling  is  an 
obligatory  study  in  all  public  schools,  three  to  six 
hours  a  week  being  devoted  to  it,  subject  to  the  ad- 
vice of  a  physician,  who  is  appointed  to  examine  each 
scholar  at  the  beginning  of  the  school  term.  For  the 

*  Quoted  by  Dr.  Putnam  from  a  letter  received  from  a  teacher 
of  gymnastics  in  a  "girls,  normal-school." 


EXERCISE.  41 

education  of  teachers  there  is  a  great  central  institute 
at  Stockholm ;  and  the  graduates  from  the  normal- 
schools  must  moreover  have  passed  a  special  exami- 
nation in  this  branch.  A  large  part  of  the  instruc- 
tion is  in  the  so-called  'free  exercises,'  including 
proper  methods  of  sitting,  standing,  lying,  walking, 
running,  jumping,  as  well  as  exercises  in  concert, 
games,  etc.  The  aim  of  these  free  exercises  is  to 
call  into  action  in  turn  the  greater  part  of  the  volun- 
tary muscles  of  the  body ;  and  with  an  intelligent, 
earnest  teacher  to  direct  them,  there  is  no  end  to  the 
modifications  and  combinations  that  can  be  made, 
calling  for  precision  and  strict  attention  and  skill  on 
the  part  of  the  pupils."  \Ibid J\ 

The  city  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  what  may  be  done  by  an  enlightened  commu- 
nity, led  by  far-seeing  hygienic  genius.  Gymnastic 
exercises  were  first  introduced  there  nearly  seventy 
years  ago ;  but  the  progress  has  been  very  slow  in- 
deed, and  it  was  only  a  few  years  ago  that  the  regu- 
lar practice  of  such  exercises,  under  trained  teachers, 
was  made  obligatory  upon  the  public-school  children 
in  that  city.  Most  of  the  twenty-five  schools  already 
possess  a  "  turn-halle,"  and  others  are  building.  The 
new  halls  are  to  be  from  20  to  25  meters  long  (66 — 
83  feet),  9  or  10  meters  wide,  and  5 — 5.6  meters  high 
(about  17 — 18  feet);  they  are  all  well  furnished  with 
4* 


42          SCHOOL   AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

apparatus ;  that  used  by  girls  differs  somewhat  from 
that  used  by  boys. 

There  were  12,101  children  in  the  public  schools 
in  1878,  of  whom  10,844  attended  schools  where 
gymnasiums  existed  and  exercise  was  obligatory.  A 
medical  certificate  of  disqualification  is  required  of 
those  who  are  excused ;  the  number  wholly  excused 
amounted  to  two  and  a  half  per  cent.  The  scholars 
exercise  two  hours  every  week.  They  are  always  un- 
der the  charge  of  teachers  specially  qualified  for  the 
work  by  instruction  received  in  gymnastic  normal- 
schools,  and  in  classes  taught  by  the  inspector  of 
gymnastics.  These  teachers  are  not  ignorant  men, 
nor  "pure  specialists"  of  gymnastics;  they  are  all 
regularly  qualified  teachers  of  the  literary  branches, 
and  the  hours  during  which  they  are  engaged  in  teach- 
ing gymnastics  are  counted  in  with  the  twenty-six 
required  weekly  hours,  just  as  so  many  hours  of  Latin 
or  music  would  be  counted.  One  hundred  and  four- 
teen teachers  are  thus  employed,  performing  an  amount 
of  duty  equivalent  to  \^  full  time  of  seventeen  teachers  ; 
which  may  be  estimated  as  costing  the  city  46,270 
marks,  or  about  one  dollar  for  each  child.  The  value 
of  this  exercise  to  the  teachers  is  as  great  as  to  the 
pupils. 

It  is  thought  desirable  that  the  number  of  weekly 
hours  should  be  increased.  Another  recommenda- 
tion is  made  by  the  authority  from  whom  I  quote 


EXERCISE.  43 

this  account,*  to  the  effect  that  the  city  should  pro- 
vide public  places  for  children  to  play  in,  both  for 
sanitary  and  moral  reasons — a  recommendation  which 
is  as  important  in  America  as  in  Germany. 

It  is  interesting  to  remark  that  the  youngest  chil- 
dren use  chiefly  free-hand  exercises;  that  the  boys 
take  the  fixed  apparatus  by  degrees,  and  at  last  use 
them  chiefly;  while  the  girls,  who  in  the  middle 
classes  use  fixed  apparatus  like  the  boys,  in  the  upper 
classes  return,  for  the  most  part,  to  the  use  of  lighter 
instruments,  suitable  for  young  children. 

Public  sentiment  is  not  at  present  favorable  to  such 
thorough-going  work  in  America.  To  the  crowds  of 
men  and  women  in  our  large  cities  who  were  born  in 
the  country,  and  remember  its  free  and  natural  sports, 
its  days  spent  in  the  open  air  with  the  beasts*  fowls, 
and  fishes,  a  course  in  gymnastics  will  seem  but  a 
tame  thing.  Those  city  men  who  have  been  forced 
to  use  a  gymnasium  for  their  health,  have  not  gener- 
ally a  very  cheerful  impression  of  the  place.  In  fact, 
the  actual  substitute,  in  our  cities,  for  that  immensely 
popular  German  institution,  the  Turn-Verein,  is  the 
volunteer  militia  company,  which  gratifies  the  love 
of  exercise,  the  social  instinct,  and  the  love  of  rule, 
order,  and  co-operation  in  a  very  similar  way. 

A  gymnastic  class  in  a  school  should  consist  of  the 

*  G.  Danneberg :   Das  Stadtische  Schulturnen  zu  Frankfurt 

a.  M. 


44          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

scholars  in  one  room,  or  any  suitable  fixed  number ; 
their  teacher  should  have  precisely  equal  authority 
with  their  class-teacher  (in  Amherst  College,  the 
teacher  is  a  Professor  and  member  of  the  Faculty)  ; 
and  the  exercises  should  be  controlled  as  those  of  a 
soldier  are  —  not  with  the  same  stiffness,  but  with 
constant  care  lest  the  boys  injure  themselves  by  am- 
bitious efforts. 

Even  in  Frankfort,  the  present  complete  system 
has  only  been  introduced  in  the  most  gradual  man- 
ner. If  it  is  ever  made  a  part  of  the  American  sys- 
tem,—  and  I  cannot  see  why  it  should  not  ultimately 
be,  —  the  same  way  must  be  followed.  I  would  sug- 
gest, as  a  stepping-stone,  the  introduction  of  a  very 
thorough  gymnastic  training  in  our  normal-schools. 
In  three  years,  a  young  woman  cannot  only  much 
improve  her  own  constitution,  but  can  become  im- 
pressed, from  experience,  with  the  value  of  gymnas- 
tics. The  great  difficulty  to  be  overcome  is  the  fact 
that  few  teachers  really  know  what  physical  exercise 
can  do  for  a  person  ;  what  elasticity  and  smoothness 
of  temper ;  what  power  of  continued  attention  and 
work  it  is  capable  of  imparting. 

Girls  really  need  gymnastics  more  than  boys,  in 
cities,  owing  to  the  very  great  restraint  placed  on 
their  freedom,  and  the  improper  modes  of  dressing 
which  still  prevail.  One  of  the  readiest  ways  to  per- 
suade young  women  to  dress  rationally  is  to  make 


EXERCISE.  45 

them  feel  by  contrast  the  comfort  of  living  in  bodily 
freedom,  as  must  be  done,  for  the  time,  at  least,  by 
those  who  practise  gymnastics. 

Would  it  be  too  great  a  luxury  for  a  democratic 
community  to  indulge  in,  if  all  children  were  in- 
spected by  the  quick  and  practiced  eye  of  a  medical 
expert,  once  a  year,  especially  during  the  ages  of 
rapid  growth?  and  if  the  results  of  such  examinations 
were  made  known  to  the  teachers  of  gymnastics  for 
their  guidance?  In  every  hundred  children,  there 
are  always  some  who  are  tending  to  special  deformity. 
It  would  be  very  easy,  in  most  cases,  to  prevent  this 
by  suitable  exercises,  performed  with  very  cheap  ap- 
paratus, for  a  short  time,  every  other  day.  Other 
children  are  weakly,  and  should  have  special  exemp- 
tions. 

The  adoption  of  special  teachers  in  gymnastics  is 
strongly  to  be  urged.  It  is  too  much  to  expect  of 
the  literary  instructors  that  they  shall  always  be 
strong  enough  to  perform  the  severe  duties  of  in- 
structing in  gymnastics  three  times  a  week.  Such 
duties  are  much  more  toilsome  for  the  teacher  than 
for  the  pupil.  There  are  plenty  of  most  valuable 
instructors  who  could  not  bear  the  additional  strain. 
But  as  regards  calisthenics  of  a  very  light  description, 
performed  daily  once  or  twice,  for  relaxation  more 
than  for  development,  the  ordinary  -teacher  is  per- 


46          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL    HYGIENE. 

fectly  competent  to  perform  and  teach  them.  I  will 
give  a  specimen  of  the  latter  to  illustrate : 

"  Body  erect,  heels,  together,  feet  at  angle  of  60°, 
chin  not  protruding,  eyes  front,  hands  closed,  knuc- 
kles touching  shoulders  as  nearly  as  possible,  elbows 
touching  sides  with  exactness. 

"  Right  \\a.\\&down,  up,  down,  up;  left  hand  down, 
up,  down,  up;  right  down;  right  up  and  left  down; 
right  down  and  left  up;  right  up;  both  down,  up, 
down,  up  (16  movements). 

"  The  same  alternation  may  be  applied  to  forward 
movements  resembling  a  boxer's  blows,  and  to  lateral 
and  upward  movements.  This  series  is  one  of  the  most 
elementary,  and  when  learned  so  that  the  whole  class 
does  it  with  prompt  uniformity  and  in  good  time,  — 
the  music,  if  possible,  of  a  piano  or  drum, — a  slight- 
ly harder  series  may  be  undertaken.  This  course  will 
bring  into  use,  by  degrees,  all  the  chief  muscles  in 
bending  and  twisting  the  trunk,  limbs,  and  neck." 

Military  drill  is  an  excellent  thing  in  general ;  it 
should,  however,  be  restricted  to  the  stronger  boys. 
Small  and  weak  fellows  are  easily  injured  by  carrying 
a  musket  for  a  long  distance.  My  friend,  Dr,  Buck- 
minster  Brown,  has  mentioned  to  me  one  or  two 
cases  in  which  he  believed  congestion  or  inflamma- 
tion of  the  membranes  of  the  spinal  cord  at  the 
level  of  the  shoulders  to  have  been  thus  caused. 

In  a  long  session,  there  should  be  a  pause  at  the 


EXERCISE.  47 

close  of  every  hour,  in  which  the  scholars  should  be 
allowed  to  go  out  of  doors. 

A  short  session  of  three  hours  may  require  only 
one  pause,  which  should,  however,  be  of  twenty  or 
thirty  minutes,  in  the  case  of  children. 

Clothing  should  at  all  times  be  easy  and  allow  full 
inspiration  by  chest  or  abdomen,  without  any  sense 
of  pressure ;  the  feeling  should  be  nearly  the  same  as 
when  no  clothes  are  worn.  The  so-called  "  dress 
reform"  for  women  effects  this  by  making  most  of 
the  weight  depend  from  the  shoulders. 

One  of  the  chief  faults  of  feminine  attire — -the 
pinching  of  the  waist  where  the  skirts  are  fastened  — 
is  imitated  by  boys  with  a  leather  strap.  It  is  dan- 
gerous to  exercise  with  a  tight  strap  or  string  around 
the  middle. 

The  feet  are  often  neglected.  Children  (old  enough 
to  "study  philosophy")  will  come  to  school  in  thin, 
wet  shoes  from  simple  negligence,  or  because  they 
have  "lost"  their  rubbers.  They  should  be  sent 
home  by  the  teacher  for  dry  shoes  and  stockings. 
On  very  wet  days  it  would  not  be  amiss  for  the  pupils 
to  bring  at  least  a  dry  pair  of  stockings  to  school 
with  them.  This  is  especially  important  for  older 
girls. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

CARE    OF    THE    EYES. 

THERE  is  no  hygienic  point  where  the  teacher 
can  render  more  distinct  service  than  in  rela- 
tion to  the  eyes  of  his  scholars.  The  functions  of 
this  organ  are  so  dependent  for  their  perfection 
upon  a  thoroughly  sound  condition  of  health,  that 
a  complete  account  of  their  relations  would  bring  us 
in  contact  with  most  points  of  hygiene.  But,  of  all 
public  servants,  the  teacher  ought  to  be  best  informed 
of  the  dangers,  and  best  able  to  assist  the  child  in 
avoiding  them. 

In  the  valuable  little  treatise  on  the  "  Care  of  the 
Eyes,"  by  Mr.  Brudenell  Carter,  we  find  these  words, 
which  may  be  laid  to  heart  : 

"It  is  very  worthy  of  note  that,  in  the  experience 
of  ophthalmic  surgeons,  it  is  exceptional  to  meet  with 
a  child  suffering  from  defective  vision  who  has  not, 
before  the  defect  was  discovered,  been  repeatedly 
and  systematically  punished  by  teachers  or  school- 
masters for  supposed  obstinacy  or  stupidity.  The 
very  reverse  of  this  practice  is  what  ought  to  obtain, 

48 


CARE    OF  THE  EYES.  49 

and  apparent  obstinacy  or  stupidity  should  lead,  from 
the  first,  to  the  question,  'Can  you  see  perfectly?' ' 

It  may  be  added  that  deafness,  due  to  causes  easily 
removed  if  taken  in  time,  is  often  misunderstood  in 
the  same  deplorable  way.  Deafness,  however,  cannot 
be  considered  a  "  school  disease  "  in  the  same  sense  in 
which  many  diseases  of  the  eye  are  such.  Both  the 
eye  and  the  ear,  however,  are  peculiarly  the  instru- 
ments of  school-education,  and  a  teacher  who  is  ig- 
norant of  their  essential  construction  and  laws  knows 
not  the  tools  of  his  trade. 

There  is  one  affection  which  is  so  common,  and  so 
directly  dependent  (in  many  cases)  on  school-life, 
that  it  may  well  occupy  our  first  attention.  I  refer 
to  short-sight,  near-sitoht,  or  myopia. 

A  child  with  normal  eyes  ought  to  be  able  to  read 
this  page,  in  a  good  light,  at  the  distance  of  forty 
inches,  and  at  all  intervening  distances  down  to  four 
inches :  this  is  a  very  moderate  test  for  young  eyes. 
Any  child  who  cannot  read  it  as  far  as  fifteen  inches 
off  should  have  his  eyes  examined  by  a  competent 
oculist.  No  disease  is  more  certain  to  increase  if 
neglected,  and  none  is  better  understood  by  scientific 
experts,  and  r..ore  susceptible  of  exact  statement  and 
ready  correction. 

The  near-sighted  eye  is  0ne  which  has  too  great  a 
diameter  from  front  to  rear,  so  that  the  retina — which 
lies  at  the  rear — is  beyond  the  point  at  which  pencils 
5  D 


5O          SCHOOL   AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

of  rays  from  far  objects  are  focalized.  This  condi- 
tion is  illustrated  by  the  following  diagram  from  Dr. 
Harlan's  Health  Primer,  in  this  series,  on  "Eye- 
sight, and  How  to  Care  for  It,"  in  which  the  whole 


lines  represent  the  outline  of  the  normal  eye  with 
the  lens,  and  rays  of  light  from  a  distant  object  com- 
ing to  a  focus  on  the  retina;  while  the  dotted  lines 
represent  a  near-sighted  eye,  with  rays  from  a  very 
near  object  coming  to  a  focus.  In  near-sightedness, 
rays  from  distant  objects  may  be  represented  by  the 
whole  white  lines,  which  are  focalized  before  reach- 
ing the  retina,  giving  a  diffused  image,  in  which  each 
point  of  the  object  is  seen  as  a  larger  blurred  point 
and  each  line  as  a  wider  blurred  line. 

This  defect  is  irremediable  when  it  exists  as  an 
anatomical  fault ;  but  very  much  may  be  done  to 
prevent  its  increase  when  discovered,  especially  in 
children.  It  must  be  remembered  that  some  chil- 
dren are  looked  upon  as  near-sighted  because  they 
have  the  habit  of  holding  their  work  too  close  to 


CARE    OF   THE  EYES.  5 1 

their  eyes.  This  habit  may  arise  from  the  very  oppo- 
site cause,  namely,  far-sight ;  it  may  originate  in 
sheer  indolence,  a  faulty  desk  or  seat,  or  poor  light, 
and  may  be  continued  merely  as  a  habit.  And  the 
degree  of  near-sight  is  easily  over-estimated  by  those 
not  able  to  apply  the  scientific  tests  of  the  professed 
oculist ;  for  in  many  cases  there  exists  a  temporary 
exaggeration  of  near-sight,  due  to  the  strain  entailed 
by  the  effort  to  read  or  see  fine  objects,  which  easily 
passes  away  with  change  of  occupation. 

In  order  to  prevent,  we  must  first  understand  some- 
thing of  the  causes  of  this  complaint. 

There  is  a  strong  tendency  for  the  malformation, 
once  developed,  to  be  transmitted  to  children.  In 
all  probability,  near-sight  begins,  in  many  children, 
at  a  very  early  age ;  but  in  most  cases  a  great  deal 
can  still  be  done  to  prevent  its  increase. 

It  is  believed  that  an  eye  which  is  predisposed  to 
near-sight  has  naturally  a  more  yielding  and  delicate 
envelope,  which,  under  the  influence  of  close  appli- 
cation to  near  vision,  yields  to  the  compression  which 
that  act  necessarily  causes  (and  causes,  also,  in  a 
sound  eye) ;  and  as  the  yielding  occurs  chiefly  at  the 
rear  of  the  eyeball,  that  portion  is  very  gradually 
pushed  back,  and  the  whole  globe  becomes  elongated. 

This  tendency  to  yield  may  exist  as  the  result  of 
three  causes :  first,  as  an  inheritance  from  near-sighted 
parents ;  second,  as  a  characteristic  of  weakly,  flabby 


52          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

children,  with  tissues  which  do  not  resist  pressure 
well ;  and,  third,  as  a  general  characteristic  of  child- 
hood, when  all  the  tissues  are  soft. 

Of  prevention,  as  applied  to  the  first  of  these  causes, 
I  will  not  speak;  but  the  second  is  at  once  suggestive 
of  the  great  importance  of  preserving  strong  and 
lusty  health  for  the  sake  of  the  eyes ;  and  as  to  the 
third,  it  affords  a  hint  that  childhood  is  not,  perhaps, 
a  suitable  time  for  close  application  with  the  eyes. 

Robust  and  active  children  are  less  likely,  on  the 
whole,  to  be  affected,  both  because  their  tastes  lead 
them  into  the  open  air  rather  than  to  books,  and  be- 
cause they  generally  possess  a  tougher  fibre.  Any- 
thing which  depresses  vitality  is  capable  of  weakening 
the  power  of  vision.  Bad  air  in  school-rooms  is  cer- 
tainly capable  of  causing  bad  eyes ;  it  provokes  the 
general  condition  of  listlessness  and  languid  function 
which  predisposes  to  near-sight  and  other  diseases  of 
the  eye.  Fresh  air  in  the  school-room  is  absolutely 
necessary  for  this  reason.  Delicate  health,  dyspepsia; 
catarrhal,  and  other  weaknesses  may  be  considered  as 
aiding  the  tendency  to  near-sight.  Convalescence 
from  acute  fevers,  as  measles,  is  often  associated  with 
a  weakness  of  the  eyes  which  should  forbid  their  use 
for  a  time.  Diphtheria  not  seldom  causes  a  paralysis 
of  sight,  which  should  be  very  carefully  looked  after 
both  by  teacher  and  doctor,  and  all  use  be  prohibited 
until  complete  recovery  ensues. 


CARE    OF  THE  EYES.  53 

It  is  a  false  and  mischievous  view  that  considers 
the  near-sighted  eye  a  strong  eye.  Such  an  eye  is 
" strong"  only  in  respect  to  minute  objects,  while, 
for  almost  all  the  pleasures  and  duties  of  life,  it  is  a 
half-blind  eye.  There  is,  too,  a  tendency,  happily 
seldom  realized,  to  destroy  sight  by  separation  of  the 
retina  from  the  outer  coats  of  the  eye  —  a  painless 
process,  but  frightful  to  contemplate  as  the  possible, 
and  in  fact  the  logical,  termination  (so  to  speak)  of 
near-sightedness. 

The  mechanical  pressure  exercised  in  the  act  of 
looking  at  near  objects  by  the  muscles  used  in  fixing 
the  globe  has  been  mentioned.  The  distention  which 
this  pressure  tends  to  produce  is  quickly  recovered 
from  if  the  eye  is  rested  often ;  its  effects  are  exag- 
gerated by  the  excessive  fineness  of  the  objects  looked 
at  (as  in  embroidering,  and  small  maps  and  type),  by 
poor  light,  by  fatigue,  by  sleepiness,  by  an  over- 
heated room,  or  cold  feet ;  by  tight  clothing  around 
the  neck,  by  the  effect  of  a  recent  hearty  meal,  or  by 
protracted  use  of  the  eyes ;  and,  in  general,  by  any- 
thing which  causes  congestion  of  the  eyes.  The  eyes 
are  decidedly  better  able  to  bear  fatigue  in  the  fore- 
noon than  in  the  afternoon.  The  position  of  the 
body  is  important ;  stooping  forwards  should  be  pro- 
hibited, and  the  eyes  not  allowed  to  approach  nearer 
than  fifteen  inches  in  general  to  the  book  or  slate. 
The  proper  shape  and  proportion  of  a  desk  which 


54          SCHOOL  AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

* 
will  facilitate  the  fulfilment  of  these  requisitions  will 

be  described  hereafter,  as  well  as  the  proper  arrange- 
ments for  lighting  a  room. 

The  reader  is  referred  to  Dr.  Harlan's  work  in  this 
series  for  a  fuller  account  of  "  How  to  Care  for  the 
Eyesight ' '  than  can  be  given  here.  A  few  remarks, 
however,  are  here  quoted  : 

"It  is  well  in  reading  to  interrupt  the  strain  of 
continuous  gaze  upon  the  page,  and  rest  the  eyes,  by 
looking  into  the  distance  occasionally,  even  if  only 
for  a  few  seconds.  In  studying,  or  in  reading  any- 
thing that  requires  thought,  this  is  likely  to  be  done 
unconsciously;  the  natural  condition  in  close  thought 
is  rest  of  everything  except  the  brain. 

"  As  distant  vision  represents  rest  for  the  eyes,  and 
near  vision  represents  exertion,  care  should  be  taken, 
in  reading,  not  unnecessarily  to  increase  this  exertion 
by  holding  the  book  too  close.  The  book  should  not 
be  held  nearer  to  the  eyes  than  is  necessary  to  make 
the  print  appear  perfectly  sharp  and  distinct,  and  no 
print  should  be  read  continuously  that  cannot  be  seen 
clearly  at  about  eighteen  inches. 

"  Without  any  optical  or  other  discoverable  reason, 
or,  perhaps,  merely  in  consequence  of  a  careless  and 
lounging  way  of  sitting,  young  people  often  acquire 
the  vicious  habit  of  reading  with  the  book  held  close 
to  the  eyes  —  a  habit  which,  if  examination  of  the 
eyes  proves  it  to  be  nothing  more,  should  be  strictly 


CARE    OF   THE   EYES.  55 

discouraged.  It  is  very  important,  however,  to  de- 
termine positively  that  there  is  no  physical  cause  for 
the  habit,  and  to  remember  that  true  short-sight  de- 
pends upon  the  form  of  the  eyeball,  which  no  amount 
of  discipline  can  alter.  Great  injustice  is  often  done 
to  children  by  accusing  them  of  obstinacy  or  inat- 
tention, when  they  are  the  subjects  of  physical  defects 
of  sight  or  hearing.  Those  with  a  high  degree  of 
long-sight  are  particularly  liable  to  be  misunderstood  ; 
for,  though  they  can  see  distant  objects  better  than 
near  ones,  they  sometimes  hold  the  book  close  to  the 
eyes  to  make  the  print  appear  larger,  and  thus  par- 
tially compensate  for  their  dimness  of  sight.  Chil- 
dren with  astigmatism  often  appear  stupid  or  inatten- 
tive, because  there  is  in  this  defect  what  the  subjects 
of  it  sometimes  aptly  call  '  slow  sight ;  '  that  is,  they 
do  not  recognize  a  word  quickly  on  first  sight,  but 
'  it  seems  to  come  to  them  afterwards.'  Astigmatism 
is  that  condition  in.  which  all  lines  running  in  a  given 
direction  look  blurred  —  as  all  the  upright  or  all  the 
horizontal,  etc. 

"  In  reading  while  lying  down,  it  is  hardly  possible 
to  hold  the  book  in  a  favorable  position,  and  the  ex- 
ternal muscles  of  the  eye  are  strained.  In  addition 
to  this,  when  the  head  is  on  a  level  with  the  body, 
instead  of  erect,  there  is  a  tendency  to  an  excess  of 
blood  in  the  eyes. 

"  It  is  not  well  to  persist  in  reading  when  overcome 


56          SCHOOL   AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

with  sleep,  as  there  is  a  constant  tendency  for  the 
muscles  of  accommodation  to  relax,  and  of  the  eyes 
to  diverge,  and  they  have  to  be  forced  back  to  their 
work  by  an  effort  of  the  will.  The  effect  of  this  is 
soon  shown  in  a  congestion  of  the  blood-vessels  of 
the  conjunctiva  [white  of  the  eye]." 

This  is  the  place  to  speak  of  the  excessively  bad 
and  trying  character  of  the  letters  on  many  maps 
used  in  schools.  Some  most  excellent  works,  as  re- 
gards thoroughness  and  execution,  are  absolutely  in- 
tolerable on  account  of  the  fineness  of  the  engraving. 
Other  maps,  printed  from  old  and  worn  plates,  are 
sold,  which  it  would  require  the  microscope  of  an 
expert  to  decipher.  Maps  for  children  ought  to  con- 
tain few  data;  geography  should  be  largely  taught  by 
wall-maps  and  outline  maps;  and  long  search  for 
places,  too  often  hidden  like  "  the  needle  in  the  hay- 
stack/' should  be  discouraged. 

Greek  letters  are  not  harder  to  read  than  a  clear 
manuscript,  if  they  are  well  printed.  There  is  an 
old  Greek  type  which  is  very  trying,  however.  Lex- 
icons are  an  indispensable  part  of  a  classical  educa- 
tion, and  the  utmost  care  should  be  given  to  clearness 
of  type. 

The  most  agreeable  tint  for  paper  is  either  a  cream 
color,  like  that  of  this  page,  or  a  pale  blue  (which  is 
commonly  taken  for  clear  white),  produced  by  adding 
a  pigment.  The  practice  of  calendering  the  sheets, 


CARE    OF   THE  EYES.  57 

to  give  a  gloss,  is  altogether  improper,  for  it  causes 
them  to  throw  a  dazzling  reflection  in  many  lights. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  drawing,  when  the 
eyes  have  frequently  to  look  from  the  page  to  a  dis- 
tant object,  may  be  quite  fatiguing.  Drawing  maps 
on  a  small  scale  must  be  forbidden ;  no  names,  for 
instance,  should  be  inserted  in  a  smaller  handwriting 
than  that  which  is  usual.  A  large  handwriting  for 
ordinary  purposes  should  be  taught.  Fine  embroid- 
ery and  lace-work  are  notoriously  destructive  to  the 
eyes.  As  an  illustration  of  the  effect  of  too  close 
work  with  the  eyes,  I  will  mention  a  recent  minute 
edition  of  Dante's  Divine  Comedy,  which  occupies 
a  volume  measuring  2  by  \-£§  inches.  The  type  is  so 
minute  that  it  had  to  be  destroyed  after  use,  owing  to 
the  impossibility  of  distributing  it ;  and  several  work- 
men had  to  stop  working  on  it  on  account  of  the 
injury  it  caused. 

Pale  ink  and  greasy  slates  are  trying  to  the  eyes. 
Some  other  points  will  be  mentioned  hereafter. 

The  connection  of  near-sight  with  school-life  and 
work  has  received  a  great  deal  of  attention  within 
the  past  twenty  years.  Statistics  were  first  published 
by  Cohn,  of  Breslau,  who  examined  the  eyes  of 
10,060  school-children,  and  found  that  of  this  num- 
ber 1004  were  near-sighted.  Since  then  many  ex- 
aminations of  smaller  numbers  of  children  have  been 
made  in  Germany,  Russia,  Switzerland,  and  America, 


58          SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

with  strikingly  similar  results.  It  seems  to  be  a  uni- 
form fact,  that  the  youngest  classes  have  the  fewest 
near-sighted  children  and  the  oldest  the  most.  In 
Konigsberg,  the  difference  was  found  to  be  as  nearly 
six  to  one.  In  New  York,  the  difference  was  nearly 
as  eight  to  one.*  It  may  be  a  matter  for  congratu- 

*  Statistics  by  Drs.  E.  G.  Loring  and  R.  H.  Derby,  the  ages 
ranging  from  6  to  21  years.  Percentages  in  the  lowest  classes, 
3.50;  in  the  highest,  26.78,  near-sighted  per  hundred. 

Other  American  observations  give  the  following  results : 

Cincinnati,  630  students :  District  schools,  10;  Intermediate, 
14;  Normal  and  High,  16,  near-sighted  persons  in  100. 

Brooklyn  Polytechnic,  300  students :  Academic  Department, 
10  per  cent. ;  Collegiate  Department,  28  per  cent. 

New  York  College,  549  students :  Introductory  class,  29 ; 
Freshman,  40;  Sophomore,  35  ;  Junior,  53;  Senior,  37  per  cent. 

Buffalo  public  schools,  1003  pupils:  the  percentage  of  near- 
sightedness  increased  from  5  at  seven  years  of  age  to  26  at 
eighteen  years.  It  was  further  ascertained  that  one  of  every 
four  graduates  of  the  Buffalo  High-School  was  near-sighted. 

Dayton  (Ohio)  public  schools,  765  pupils  :  near-sighted,  18.96 
per  cent. 

In  Amherst  College,  as  has  been  shown  by  the  very  careful 
examination  recently  made  by  Dr.  Hasket  Derby,  the  percent- 
age of  normal  eyes,  on  entering,  is  50.8;  on  graduating,  36. 
The  percentage  of  far-sight  on  entering  is  5 ;  on  graduating, 
13.2;  that  of  near-sight  on  entering,  44.2;  on  graduating,  50.8. 
Amherst  students  have  the  reputation  of  working  well  at  their 
books,  and  they  are  certainly  not  a  puny  or  unwholesome  set. 
They  are  rather  largely  country  boys.  This  refers  to  the  class 
graduating  in  1879. 

The  statement  for  the  class  of  1880  (which  I  owe  to  the  kind- 


CARE    OF   THE   EYES.  ,  59 

lation  that  we  have  in  America  fewer  actual  cases  of 
near-sight, —  perhaps  one-half  as  many  as  in  Germany; 
but  it  would  seem  that  the  tendency  of  near-sight  to 
increase  rapidly  as  school- life  advances  is  quite  as 
marked  here  as  there. 

It  is  really  a  serious  question  whether  the  attain- 
ment of  high  culture  is  necessarily  attended  by  my- 
opia in  a  large  percentage  of  persons.  The  German 
nation  is  a  spectacled  nation  :  it  has  not  lost  its  mil- 
itary qualities  nor  its  intellectual  preponderance  in 
certain  directions ;  but  who  likes  to  think  of  a  uni- 
versal use  of  glasses  for  ordinary  vision  by  children 
and  adults  alike?  And  yet,  if  it  were  possible  to 
send  the  whole  nation  to  school  up  to  the  age  of 
eighteen  (in  their  way),  this  result  wrould  seem  likely 
to  follow.  Perhaps  among  the  drilled  and  orderly 
masses  of  Germany,  where  the  boys  (little  old  men) 
never  throw  stones  or  steal  apples,  the  disadvantage 

ness  of  Dr.  Derby,  as  it  is  not  published)  is  to  the  effect  that 
near-sight  developed  from  previous  normal  sight  in  7  per  cent, 
of  the  whole  class  increased  in  amount  in  3j/£  per  cent.,  and  re- 
mained unchanged  in  22.8  per  cent.  This  is  favorable,  as  com- 
pared with  other  statistics.  Perhaps  the  mere  fact  of  attention 
being  paid  to  the  subject  has  increased  the  care  of  the  students; 
doubtless  the  gymnastic  exercises  have  had  a  good  effect. 

These  statistics,  except  the  first  and  last,  are  quoted  from  the  re- 
port of  Dr.  Conklin,  of  Dayton,  upon  the  "  Effect  of  School-Life 
upon  the  Eyesight,"  printed  by  the  School  Board,  1880.  They 
are  not  very  extensive,  but  they  should  dispel  the  idea  that  near- 
sightedness  will  take  care  of  itself  in  America. 


60          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

of  partial  blindness  is  not  so  great  as  it  would  be 
here;  yet  who  wants  a  near-sighted  policeman,  or 
sailor,  or  stage-driver,  or  a  spectacled  actor  or  singer? 
The  effect  of  near-sight  upon  the  character  has  not 
been  studied.  We  would  add,  for  the  thoughtful 
consideration  of  parents,  these  words  from  Mr.  Car- 
ter's book : 

"It  will  be  manifest,  on  reflection,  that  the  mat- 
ters which  are  lost  by  the  short-sighted,  as  by  the 
partially  deaf,  make  up  a  very  large  proportion  of 
the  pleasures  of  existence.  I  am  accustomed,  on 
this  ground,  strongly  to  urge  upon  parents  the  neces- 
sity of  correcting  myopia  in  their  children ;  and  I 
am  sure  that  a  visual  horizon  limited  to  ten  or  even 
twenty  inches,  with  no  distinct  perception  of  objects 
at  a  greater  distance,  has  a  marked  tendency  to  pro- 
duce habits  of  introspection  and  reverie,  and  of  in- 
attention to  outward  things,  which  may  lay  the  foun- 
dation of  grave  defects  of  character." 

Homer  was,  assuredly,  the  possessor  of  a  good 
pair  of  eyes  —  at  least,  in  his  youth  ! 

If  near-sight  is  at  all  connected  with  compulsory 
and  protracted  education, —  that  is,  with  the  methods 
by  which  modern  civilization  is  supported, — it  be- 
comes a  national  question  of  a  grave  character, 
whether  the  connection  is  a  necessary  one,  or  whether 
means  for  preventing  its  growth  are  not  feasible. 
These  means  do  exist,  and  it  is  our  duty  to  urge 
their  adoption. 


CARE    OF   THE  EYES.  6 1 

Children  are  incapable,  for  physical  reasons,  of 
enduring  long  protracted  effort.  This  is  true  not 
only  of  the  mind,  but  of  the  eye,  and  for  very 
tangible  reasons.  Their  tissues  are  soft,  —  bones, 
tendons,  muscles,  and  skin  alike,. —  and  yield  readily 
to  pressure.  Now,  no  fact  is  better  known  than  that 
near-sightedness  is  increased  by  the  yielding  of  the 
fibrous  coats  of  the  eye  under  the  pressure  of  the  act 
of  reading ;  and  it  is  equally  well  known  that  child- 
hood is,  par  excellence,  the  period  when  near-sight- 
edness commences.  Nature  forbids  the  young  child's 
brain  to  be  used  for  a  single  task  more  than  fifteen 
minutes  or  so ;  and  to  this  fact,  now  understood  by 
most  teachers,  should  be  added  that  the  child's  eye 
will  not  bear  anything  like  the  continuous  strain  that 
an  adult's  will  bear. 

Children  differ  greatly  in  this  respect,  no  doubt ; 
but  the  State  should  not  exact  tasks  which  are  likely 
to  injure  even  a  small  proportion  of  the  whole. 

A  school  for  young  children  should  present  a  very 
different  aspect  from  that  offered  by  an  academy. 
The  eyes  should  frequently  wander.  If  academic 
tasks  are  given,  the  evidence  of  momentary  fatigue 
and  inattention  should  not  be  interdicted.  If  the 
school  is  held  in  the  afternoon,  in  summer,  what  can 
prevent  an  occasional  nap  ?  (It  may  be  remarked, 
by  the  way,  that  no  one  should  read  while  sleepy,  or 
just  after  waking.)  A  rational  regimen  for  children 
6 


62          SCHOOL   AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

should  include  vigorous  play,  or  mechanical  or  agri- 
cultural instruction,  for  a  considerable  part  of  the 
day,  with  very  limited  hours  of  study.  The  latter 
must  be  interrupted,  for  the  youngest  children  every 
quarter  of  an  hour,  by  a  change  of  position,  stand- 
ing, walking  about,  and  by  change  of  study ;  for 
older  children  the  intervals  may  be  less  frequent;  but 
until  maturity  is  nearly  reached  (say  until  the  age  of 
sixteen),  it  is  best  to  have  a  complete  break  at  the  end 
of  every  hour  for  a  few  minutes  at  least,  with  enforced 
cessation  of  eye-work. 

If  it  be  proved,  as  it  has  been  over  and  over  again 
in  England,  Germany,  and  America,  that  children 
under  twelve  learn  as  much  in  three  hours  a  day  as  in 
five,  there  would  seem  to  be  no  excuse  whatever  for 
the  cruel  custom  of  confining  them  for  the  present 
period,  with  the  consequent  (we  may  fairly  say  the 
consequent)  inevitable  injury  to  the  eyesight  of  many. 
Parents  are  not  to  be  blamed  for  desiring  that  their 
children  shall  gain  knowledge  rapidly ;  but  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  it  will  be  long  before  they  practically  as- 
sent to  the  truth  of  the  proposition,  that  young  chil- 
dren become  tired  after  three  hours  of  study,  and  that 

Three  hours  of  good  work  are  better  than  five  hours 
of  poor  work. 

Children  not  infrequently  have  far-sighted  eyes, 
which  are  not  fitted  for  continuous  work  upon  near 
objects,  and  which,  of  course,  cannot  be  made  fit  by 


CARE    OF   THE   EYES.  63 

any  effort  of  the  will.  This  defect  is  very  liable  to 
be  neglected.  It  often  causes  headaches,  which  may 
easily  be  attributed  to  a  difficulty  of  the  brain. 
Convergent  squinting  is  very  liable  to  be  the  result 
of  neglected  far-sight  in  children.  The  remedy  for 
far-sight  is  very. simple  indeed,  consisting  in  the  use 
of  convex  glasses.  It  is  utterly  useless  to  spend  time 
on  other  methods  ;  either  the  child  must  give  up 
study,  and  all  work  requiring  the  inspection  of  near 
objects,  or  he  must  wear  glasses  constantly  for  such 
work. 

When  near-sight  is  considerable,  glasses  should  be 
worn  "as  a.  part  of  the  eye."  If  it  is  very  consid- 
erable, two  pairs  must  be  used — one  for  far  objects, 
the  other,  much  weaker,  for  use  in  writing  and  read- 
ing. It  is  certain  that  any  degree  of  near-sight 
which  compels  the  child  to  stoop  to  work  at  ordinary 
well-made  desks  is  productive  of  congestion  and 
strain  in  continued  study,  which  is  highly  prejudicial 
to  sight ;  this  injury  may  be  avoided  easily,  comfort- 
ably, and  safely  by  the  use  of  weak  glasses. 

It  is  proper  to  warn  teachers  of  the  contagious  na- 
ture of  certain  cases  of  conjunctivitis  (inflammation 
of  the  outer  covering  of  the  eyeball,  ophthalmia), 
and  of  inflammation  of  the  edge  of  the  lids.  A 
physician  is  the  proper  judge  of  such  cases. 

All  spectacles  or  eye-glasses  should  be  selected  by 
an  oculist,  /.  e. ,  a  physician  trained  to  the  special 
care  of  the  eyes,  and  never  by  a  mere  optician. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SCHOOL-DESKS    AND    SEATS. 

AMONG  the  prominent  causes  of  deformity  of 
the  spine  and  of  near-sight  among  scholars,  is 
the  disproportion  or  otherwise  bad  construction  of 
these  necessary  pieces  of  furniture. 

"To  bad  positions  in  writing,  drawing,  at  the 
piano,  etc.,  also  while  standing  during  recitations 
(upon  one  foot) ;  to  carrying  weights,  heavy  books, 
for  example,  more  on  one  arm  than  the  other;  to 
too  much  exercise  of  one  arm,  while  the  other  is 
comparatively  idle,  can  undoubtedly  be  traced  the 
majority  of  these  curvatures  (/.  <?.,  rotato-lateral  cur- 
vature of  the  spine).  But  it  is  not  malposition  alone 
that  causes  the  trouble.  It  is  likewise  due  to  long 
continuance  in  one  position,  which  at  first  may  be  a 
good  one,  but  which,  if  continued  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time,  becomes  changed,  from  simple  fatigue 
of  a  certain  set  of  muscles,  into  a  bad  one.  These 
relax ;  sometimes  one  muscle  or  set  of  muscles  gives 
way ;  sometimes  another  set.  The  burden  of  support 
is  consequently  thrown,  to  a  great  extent,  upon  the 

64 


SCHOOL-DESKS  AND   SEATS.  65 

ligaments  which  bind  the  vertebra  together.  These, 
in  a  young  person,  are  soft ;  their  elasticity  is  soon 
overcome,  and  they  are  stretched.  The  chain  of 
bones  of  which  the  spine  is  composed  yields.  The 
muscles  and  ligaments  no  longer  do  their  work,  and 
the  superincumbent  weight  of  the  head  and  shoulders 
bends  the  chain,  or  perhaps  the  preponderance  of 
other  muscles,  not  so  easily  fatigued,  disturbs  the 
equilibrium,  and  a  curve  is  the  result.  This  curve 
may  commence  in  the  dorsal  region,  between  the 
shoulders,  or  it  may  begin  in  the  loins."  * 

Such  a  curve  is  easily  straightened  at  first,  but 
becomes  a  "  fixed  fact "  after  a  while,  owing  to  a 
permanent  change  in  shape  assumed  by  the  vertebrae 
under  the  influence  of  continued  pressure. 

The  faults  in  school-desks  and  seats  which  tend  to 
produce  deformity  and  defects  of  sight  are  the  fol- 
lowing : 

1.  Desk  too  low,  causing  a  forward   stoop,  with 
tendency  to  congestion  of  the  head  and  formation  or 
increase  of  near-sight. 

2.  Desk  too  high,  causing  undue  elevation  of  one 
shoulder,  usually  the  right,  with  tendency  to  spinal 
curvature. 

*  Buckminster  Brown,  M.  D. :  "  Influence  of  the  Prevailing 
Methods  of  Education  on  the  Production  of  Deformity  in  Young 
Persons,"  etc.     Lecture  delivered  before  the  American  Social 
Science  Association,  Department  of  Health,  1879. 
6*  E 


66          SCHOOL   AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

3.  Desk  too  far  from  the  seat,  with  stoop  of  the 
body,  injuring  the  eyes.     Both  here   and  in  No.    i 
there  is  danger  of  injuring  the  health  by  compression 
of  the  abdomen  and  chest ;  dyspepsia,  small  chests, 
round  shoulders. 

4.  Flat  desk-lid,  interfering  with  freedom  in  writ- 
ing, disadvantageous  as  respects  receiving  the  light, 
and  compelling  the  child  to  hold  up  his  book  in  order 
to  see. 

As  to  seats,  we  have : 

5.  Seat  too  high,  so  that  the  feet  are  not  supported, 
and  the  legs  grow  weary. 

6.  Insufficient  support  for  the  back,  causing  fatigue 
and  improper  attitudes,  and  consequent  tendency  for 
the  spine  to  yield  and  take  a  side-curve. 

7.  Seat  not  hollowed  suitably,  causing  pain  and 
restlessness. 

8.  Well-proportioned  desk  and  seat,  not  adapted 
to  the  age  of  the  child  using  them. 

In  general,  discomfort  is  an  indirect  cause  of 
deformity,  as  it  invariably  leads  a  child  to  take 
improper  positions. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  construction  of  good  seats 
in  detail,  making  allowance  for  differences  of  opinion 
among  authorities.  A  medical  friend  of  the  writer's, 
who  has  long  and  carefully  studied  the  question,  and 
has  children  of  his  own  in  school,  concludes  that 
desks  ought  to  be  abolished,  and  arm-chairs  substi- 


SCHOOL-DESKS  AND   SEATS.  6j 

tuted.  This  opinion  is  only  an  individual  one,  how- 
ever, and  we  shall  assume  the  necessity  of  desks. 

The  desks  used  for  American  public  schools  are 
usually  fairly  good,  though  there  are  glaring  excep- 
tions. The  newer  models  usually  give  a  separate  seat 
for  each  child,  which  is  desirable  in  the  interests  of 
discipline  and  cleanliness ;  and  as  regards  shape  and 
proportion  many  are  praiseworthy.  The  chairs  are 
commonly  made  comfortable  by  a  slight  backward 
tilt  of  the  back-piece,  and  a  corresponding  upward 
tilt  of  the  front  of  the  seat-piece.  The  scholar  can 
thus  find  perfect  support  in  reading  when  desired. 

Liebreich  considers  that  "  the  back  ought  to  be 
straight,  and  consist  of  a  piece  of  wood  only  three 
inches  broad ;  "  "  not  high,  and  not  slanting  back- 
wards;" "the  top  to  be  one  inch  lower  than  the 
edge  of  the  table  for  boys,  and  one  inch  higher  than 
the  edge  of  the  table  for  girls." 

The  national  characteristics  are  shown  in  this  dif- 
ference. The  American  seat  is  thoroughly  easy  to 
lean  back  in ;  the  German  seat  is  suited  to  keep  the 
child  in  an  erect,  semi-military  attitude,  with  right 
angles  at  the  knees  and  hips ;  and,  in  point  of  fact, 
it  does  keep  him  so,  by  the  help  of  discipline. 

What  are  the  requirements  of  a  good  seat  and 
desk? 

First,  it  may  be  said,  it  is  necessary  that  they 
should  not  tend  to  produce  deformity  of  the  spine. 


68          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  a  child  is 
not,  or  ought  not  to  be,  kept  sitting  very  long  at  a 
time  —  fifty  minutes  at  the  most.  He  does  not  re- 
quire a  chair  to  lean  against  continuously,  but  for 
occasional  support  by  way  of  change.  To  quote  an 
expression  of  Professor  Henry  J.  Bigelow's  (Harvard), 
11  Rest  against  a  well-made  chair-back  at  will, — change 
of  posture  and  variety  of  movement  at  will, —  seem 
to  me  the  best  prophylactic  against  curvature." 
Whether  a  perpendicular  back  or  a  tilted  back  is 
used  is  not  essential ;  either  kind,  if  rightly  made, 
is  comfortable. 

Second,  an  upright  position  in  writing  is  indis- 
pensable ;  yet  it  is  extremely  rarely  seen.  The  seat 
•must  at  least  not  interfere  with  such  a  position.  The 
desk-lid  must  not  project  so  far  as  to  touch  the 
stomach ;  but  that  fault  is  hardly  likely  to  occur. 

The  German  plan  of  an  upright  back  probably 
assists  in  forming  the  habit  of  sitting  erect,  and  is  on 
this  account  desirable.  It  seems  to  me  perfectly 
suitable  for  all  children  who  have  not  a  commencing 
curvature  of  the  spine.  If  the  latter  condition  ex- 
ists, or  if  there  is  a  tendency  to  it,  a  slightly  inclined 
seat  is  better,  as  giving  more  perfect  rest  or  relaxa- 
tion. Not  that  such  relaxation  should  be  maintained 
throughout  the  time  of  study,  but  it  should  be  per- 
mitted at  the  scholar's  will. 

The  child  who  is  sitting  erect,  with  the  knees  at 


SCHOOL-DESKS  AND   SEATS.  69 

right  angles,  the  back  against  an  upright  support,  and 
the  wrists  on  the  table,  is  well  balanced.  The  posi- 
tion is  comfortable,  not  because  of  the  amount  of 
support  given,  but  because  the  support  is  well  placed. 
It  is  suited  to  a  well  and  vigorous  person,  although  it 
does  not  give  so  much  rest  to  the  over-fatigued  body 
as  a  tilted  seat  does. 

If  the  light  is  bad,  children  cannot  be  prevented 
from  stooping. 

Near-sighted  children  should  be  placed  in  the  best 
light,  and,  if  the  defect  is  marked,  should  have  weak 
glasses  to  read  or  write  with. 

If  the  desk  and  seat  are  suitably  proportioned,  the 
former  will  be  only  from  six  to  ten  and  a  quarter  inches 
higher  than  the  latter;  and  the  book  will  be  from 
fifteen  to  eighteen  inches  distant  from  the  eyes  of  a; 
scholar  sitting  upright.  Near-sight  is  not  uncommon 
to  an  extent  which  makes  it  uncomfortable  or  impos- 
sible to  read  at  those  distances.  It  is  thought  by 
modern  ophthalmologists,  in  such  cases,  much  safer 
to  give  a  pair  of  weak  glasses  than  to  permit  a  child 
to  get  the  habit  of  stooping  forward,  which,  of  itself 
tends  to  increase  near-sight. 

The  most  luxurious  position  in  writing  is  one  in 
which  the  back  is  well  supported,  with  a  lean  back- 
ward, and  the  desk-lid  comes  pretty  well  forward,  in 
fact,  within  three  or  four  inches  of  the  stomach. 
Desks  have  been  constructed  with  this  object;  but 


7O          SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

scholars  will  not  write  leaning  back.  The  posture 
may  be  enjoyed  for  a  time,  but  it  interferes  with 
other  work;  it  is  interrupted  by  reaching  to  dip  the 
pen,  to  get  books,  etc.,  and  the  support  at  the  back 
is  soon  abandoned  for  the  more  congenial  one  af- 
forded by  the  elbows  resting  upon  the  desk. 

It  is  an  excellent  thing  if  the  lid  of  the  desk  can 
be  made  in  two  pieces,  hinged  together,  so  that  the 
piece  next  the  scholar  can  be  raised  to  an  angle  of 
40°  or  45°,  and  form  a  book-rest. 

It  seems  to  me  difficult  to  maintain  an  absolute 
statement  regarding  the  proper  shape  of  seats.  The 
reader  sees  that  there  are  good  arguments  both  for 
the  tilted  and  the  straight  seat.  There  is  good  au- 
thority for  saying  that  the  back  should  be  fully 
supported  in  a  slightly  tilted  posture  in  writing;  but, 
in  view  of  the  necessity  in  after  life  of  writing  in  the 
erect  position,  it  would  seem  that  the  child  should  at 
least  be  taught  to  do  it  so. 

The  child  may  take  any  position  he  likes,  provided 
he  does  not  keep  it  long.  The  more  he  varies  his  pos- 
ture from  moment  to  moment  the  safer  he  is.  But  he 
does  not  usually  vary  it  much  in  writing;  he  gets  one 
or  two  favorite  bad  positions,  and  only  varies  them  in 
degree.  It  is  excessively  hard  to  change  such  habits 
when  once  formed.  The  primary  school  is  the  place 
to  form  the  child  in  this  respect.  It  is,  however, 
unnatural  for  a  young  child  to  sit  long  in  one  posture. 


SCHOOL-DESKS  AND   SEATS.  J\ 

A  primary  class  must  be  allowed  to  write  a  few  min- 
utes only  at  a  time ;  by  frequent  breaks  a  good  deal 
of  writing  may  be  finally  performed. 

With  these  precautions,  classes  of  young  children 
may  be  drilled  in  the  artNof  sitting  up  in  a  cor- 
rect form.  In  writing,  it  is  safest  to  sit  squarely 
facing  the  desk  (for  sidelong  attitudes  engender  the 
corkscrew,  spiral  curve  of  the  spine).  The  upper 
part  of  the  trunk  must  be  straight,  the  head  bowed 
as  little  as  possible ;  "  the  shoulder-blades,  both  of 
the  same  height,  are,  together  with  the  upper  arm, 
freely  suspended  on  the  ribs,  and  in  no  way  support- 
ing the  body ;  both  elbows  on  a  level  with  each  other, 
and  almost  perpendicular  under  the  shoulder-joint, 
without  any  support ;  only  the  hands  and  part  of  the 
fore-arm  resting  on  the  table. "  [Liebreich.]  If  lean- 
ing against  the  back  of  a  chair  in  writing,  some  sup- 
port is  naturally  given  to  the  elbow  from  behind. 

A  child  who  is  expected  to  write  more  than  half  an 
hour  must  have  a  full  support  for  the  back,  at  least  as 
high  as  the  shoulders. 

The  same  is  true  of  piano- practising.  There  must 
be  a  back-rest  and  a  foot-rest  also  ;  the  latter  is  easily 
supplied  by  a  hassock  or  foot-stool. 

The  point  where  support  for  the  back  is  most 
needed,  for  work  of  moderate  duration,  is  the  sacrum, 
or  bone  on  which  the  spinal  column  rests.  This  bone 
is  curved,  and  the  support  given  by  the  curve  at  the 


/2          SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

back  of  a  saddle  is  exactly  what  should  be  found  in  a 
good  seat.  For  weakly  children,  a  support  for  the 
whole  back  is  also  necessary. 

For  protracted  work,  also,  unusual  support  may  be 
said  to  be  necessary.  But  there  should  be  no  pro- 
tracted work  without  breaks. 

The  seat  must  be  large  enough  to  support  the  thighs 
for  nearly  their  whole  length. 

A  "carved"  seat,  /.  e.,  with  a  saucer-like  hollow 
of  elongated  shape  to  sit  in,  saves  much  of  the  pain 
which  comes  from  sitting  on  flat  boards. 

Settees  are  decidedly  uncomfortable  and  unsuitable. 
They  do  not  encourage  sitting  erect,  for  the  backs  are 
much  tilted ;  they  do  not  support  the  bottom  of  the 
body  properly,  and  the  whole  weight  tends  to  slide  for- 
ward ;  they  are  not  suitably  carved,  and  press  directly 
on  the  tuberosities,  or  bones  that  are  sat  upon. 

A  foot-rest  should  be  provided  for  several  reasons. 

The  term  "distance"  is  technically  used  by  the 
Germans  to  express  the  distance  between  the  edge  of 
the  chair  and  the  perpendicular  line  dropped  from 
the  edge  of  the  desk.  Authorities  differ,  even  in 
Germany,  as  to  what  the  distance  should  be;  but  the 
most  approved  opinion  seems  to  be  that  it  should 
equal  zero  (the  plumb-line  grazing  the  seat),  or  a 
minus  quantity  (the  line  falling  on  the  seat).  Lieb- 
reich  directs  that  it  shall  be  zero  for  writing,  and  five 
inches  for  reading,  which  is  unobjectionable,  as  his 


SCHOOL-DESKS  AND  SEATS.  73 

desk  has  a  hinged  lid  which  turns  up,  and  assumes  an 
angle  of  40°  for  reading.  He  remarks  that 

"If  the  child  has  to  read  a  book  placed  on  the 
table  at  too  great  a  distance,  it  sits  on  the  edge  of 
the  seat,  a  very  unhealthy  and  fatiguing  position.  It 
rests  the  body  on  the  two  arms,  and,  if  the  difference 
between  the  [height  of  the]  desk  and  seat  is  too  great, 
the  chest  is  supported  by  the  projecting  shoulders, 
instead  of  the  shoulders  resting  on  the  thorax.  Soon 
this  position  becomes  too  fatiguing ;  the  head,  bent 
forward,  becomes  too  heavy,  and  must  be  supported 
by  one  or  both  hands  at  the  temples,  or  by  the  chin 
resting  upon  both  arms.  Thus  every  possible  modifi- 
cation of  the  two  positions  immortalized  by  Raphael, 
in  the  two  angels  at  the  feet  of  the  Sixtine  Madonna, 
is  adopted  by  the  children  ;  but  while  the  angels  look 
into  the  far  ether,  our  children  stare  into  a  book, 
which,  in  one  of  these  positions,  is  only  two  or  three 
inches  from  the  eye ;  and,  in  the  other,  sideways  from, 
the  head,  and  therefore  at  an  unequal  distance  from 
the  two  eyes. 

"  It  is  still  worse  when  writing;  with  desks  and 
seats  of  the  ordinary  form,  only  one  arm  rests  on  the 
table  —  this  is  generally  the  right,  while  the  left 
hangs  so  that  the  elbow  approaches  the  left  knee, 
and  only  the  tips  of  the  fingers  hold  the  book  on  the 
table.  The  edge  of  the  book  is  no  longer  parallel 
with  the  rim  of  the  table,  but  slanting,  or  even  per- 
7 


74          SCHOOL  AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

pendicular  to  it.  If  we  observe  the  position  which 
the  upper  part  of  the  body  assumes,  we  find  that  the 
lumbar  vertebrae  bend  forward,  those  of  the  chest 
towards  the  left,  and  those  of  the  neck  forward,  with 
an  inclination  to  the  right ;  at  the  same  time,  the 
lower  part  of  the  shoulder-blade  stands  too  far  off 
from  the  ribs,  and  is  elevated  too  much  towards  the 
right,  and  the  shoulder-joint  is  raised  and  pushed 
forward.  To  be  in  such  a  position  for  several  hours 
of  the  day,  at  a  time  when  the  youthful  body  is 
rapidly  developing,  must  naturally  produce  bad  re- 
sults." The  author  then  speaks  of  spinal  curvature 
as  thus  caused,  and  adds  that  "the  period  of  the 
development  of  spinal  curvature  and  short-sighted- 
ness coincides  exactly ;  and  they  seem  to  form  a 
circulus  vitiosus,  in  so  far  as  short-sightedness  pro- 
duces curvature,  and  curvature  favors  short-sighted- 
ness ;  while  evidently  the  same  bad  arrangements  are 
at  the  foundation  of  both  these  anomalies." 

The  edge  of  the  desk  should  be  of  such  a  height 
that,  as  the  child  sits  upright  and  lets  the  arms  fall 
freely,  the  elbows  are  about  an  inch  lower  than  the 
edge.  For  girls,  the  desk  may  be  one-half  or  three- 
quarters  of  an  inch  higher  than  this. 

It  is  a  very  common  fault  to  furnish  school-rooms 
with  desks  of  only  one  size.  The  diversity  of  height 
among  children,  differing  even  only  by  two  or  three 
years,  is  such  that  three  sizes  ought  to  be  kept  in 


SCHOOL-DESKS  AND   SEATS. 


75 


each  class  of  a  "  graded  school;  "  and  in  a  school 
of  mixed  ages,  a  larger  number.  To  satisfy  all  re- 
quirements, eight  sizes  are  needed,  as  indicated  in 
the  accompanying  table,  which  is  quoted  from  Var- 


Varrentrapp's  school-desk  and  seat,  as  used  by  the  youngest 
classes. 

This  is  adapted  to  all  ages  by  changing  the  seat  only.  The 
dotted  lines  of  the  seat  give  the  position  and  dimensions  which 
are  suitable  for  the  older  scholars,  who  can  dispense  with  the 
foot-rest.  The  distances  £•  i  (36.4  centimeters)  and  h  i  (5.2  cen- 
timeters) remain  the  same  for  all  children ;  the  "  difference," 
ip,  is  slightly  increased  for  the  older  ones. 


76          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 


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SCHOOL- DESKS  AND   SEATS.  // 

rentrapp.  The  table  is  especially  valuable  as  giving 
the  correct  heights  for  the  chair  and  the  desk-lid, 
which  are  the  chief  factors  (see  columns  3,  4,  5). 
The  edge  of  the  lid  overhangs  the  seat  by  about  two 
inches.  If  the  height  of  the  chair  is  reckoned  from 
the  foot-rest,  the  latter  is  supposed  to  be  directly 
under  the  knees.  The  chair-seat  is,  in  fact,  much 
higher  than  is  common  in  our  schools,  which  en- 
courages the  habit  of  keeping  the  knees  at  right 
angles. 

A  rest  may  properly  be  placed  under  the  desk. 
The  figure  represents  a  desk  which  raises  the  scholar 
a  good  deal  (without  interfering  with  comfort),  the 
object  of  which  seems  to  be  to  facilitate  the  master's 
inspection  of  the  writing. 

To  complete  this  account,  it  is  necessary  to  describe 
the  mode  recommended  by  Liebreich.* 

1.  One   and    the   same    size  and  model  of  desk 
should  be  used  for  children  and  grown-up  persons  of 
both  sexes. 

2.  The  adaptation  to  the   height    of  each    child 
should  be  effected  by  varying  the  height  of  the  seat 
and  the  foot-board. 

3.  The  edge  of  the  table  is  always  to  be  perpen- 
dicular to  that  of  the  seat. 

*  "  School  Life  in  its  Influence  on  Sight ;  "  a  lecture  delivered 
before  the  college  of  preceptors  at  the  House  of  the  Society  of 
Arts,  July  13,  1872.  London,  1872. 

7* 


78  SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

4.  No  seat  is  to  be  without  a  back,  and  the  top  of 
this  is  always  to  be  one  inch  lower  than  the  edge  of 
the  table  for  boys,  and  one  inch  higher  than  the  edge 
of  the  table  for  girls. 

5.  In  all  classes  where  the  boys  change  places,  the 
height  of  the  seat  is  to  be  regulated  in  proportion  to 
the  average  height  of  the  pupils. 

6.  In  all  girls'  schools,  in  all  those  boys'  schools 
where  the  children  do  not  change  places,  in  boarding- 
schools,  and  in  private  school-rooms,  the  seat  of  each 
child  should  be  accurately  regulated  in  proportion  to 
its  height.     This  is  effected  by  a  chair,  the  seat  of 
which  can  be  raised  and  lowered  by  means  of  a  screw, 
while  at  the  same  time  the  back  is  brought  forward 
in  proportion. 

The  present  writer  would  say  that  it  seems  to  him 
very  desirable  to  select  seats  that  suit  individuals,  and 
allow  them  to  retain  such  seats,  instead  of  shifting  at 
the  monthly  or  weekly  change  of  rank.  There  is 
also,  in  some  cases,  much  advantage  in  placing  the 
near-sighted,  the  partially  deaf,  or  the  unruly  near 
the  front. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

A    MODEL   SCHOOL-ROOM. 

T  TNDER  this  heading,  I  wish  to  state  a  number  of 
\U  points  which  have  various  bearings  on  the  health 
of  scholars  and  teachers  in  an  ordinary  class-room. 

Shape. — For  reasons  which  will  appear,  a  parallel- 
ogram is  desirable,  with  the  teacher's  platform  and 
desk  at  one  end.  This  form  is  better  for  acoustic 
reasons  than  a  square ;  and  it  gives  the  teacher  better 
command  over  the  pupils  than  if  the  desk  is  in  the 
middle  of  one  long  side. 

Length.  —  The  limit  of  distance  at  which  large, 
clear  writing  on  the  blackboard  is  easily  seen  (with 
letters  2|  inches  in  height)  is  about  thirty  feet.  There 
should  be  a  space  between  the  rear  row  of  desks  and 
the  wall,  which  may  add  two  or  three  feet.  The 
length  of  the  room  should,  however,  in  no  case  ex- 
ceed forty  feet  (Erismann),  and  is  limited  by  Var- 
rentrapp,  £wez,  and  others,  to  nine  or  ten  meters  (30 
to  33  feet). 

Width. —  This  is  restricted  by  the  fact  that  all  the 
windows  are  supposed  to  be  placed  on  one  of  the 

79 


8O          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

long  sides  of  the  room  ;  and  that  these  windows  will 
not  light  up  a  room  effectively  if  its  depth  exceeds  a 
certain  ratio  to  the  height  of  the  window.  This  ratio 
is  commonly  set  as  3  to  2 ;  so  that  if  a  window-head 
is  fourteen  feet  above  the  floor  (which  is  rarely  the 
case),  the  light  will  penetrate  effectively  to  a  distance 
of  twenty-one  feet.  Again,  allow  three  feet  for  the 
width  of  the  passage  beyond  the  farthest  desk,  and 
twenty-four  feet  is  seen  to  be  the  extreme  allowable 
width;  or,  if  the  window  is  13^  feet  high,  about 
twenty-three  feet. 

Height. —  This  is  limited  to  thirteen  or  fourteen 
feet,  by  practical  considerations,  such  as  the  expense 
of  building  and  heating. 

Windows. — The  direction  from  which  light  comes 
to  the  desk  of  a  scholar  is  of  great  importance.  It 
is  universally  agreed  that  for  general  purposes  that 
which  comes  from  the  left  is  best.  Almost  all  au- 
thorities of  scientific  weight  order  that  this  be  made 
the  rule,  and,  in  fact,  the  Germans  generally  forbid 
the  use  of  windows  upon  any  other  side  of  the  room. 
It  may  be  said  that  light  from  the  right  hand  is  as 
useful  to  read  by  as  that  from  the  left.  This  is  true ; 
but  in  writing,  such  a  light  is  very  annoying.  And 
a  combination  of  lights  from  the  right  and  left  throws 
a  double  set  of  shadows,  which  is  also  trying  to  the 
eyes.  The  same  may  be  said  of  a  combination  of 
light  from  the  left  and  rear. 

The  worst  light,  in  general,  is  that  from  directly 


A   MODEL   SCHOOL-ROOM.  8 1 

in  front  of  the  scholar.  It  pains  the  eye,  if  intense. 
If  moderate  in  amount,  it  still  inflicts  an  unconscious 
strain  on  the  retina,  by  throwing  on  it  an  illumination 
which  would  be  healthful  if  the  eye  were  not  at  work 
on  small  objects,  but  which  is  a  needless  tax  on  the 
endurance  of  the  laboring  organ.  Practically,  any 
one  may  prove  that  it  is  much  harder  to  read  with 
the  book  held  towards  a  window  than  with  the  book 
held  away.  This  difficulty  is  felt  by  the  scholar,  who 
tries  to  remedy  it  in  his  own  way. 

Sometimes  he  holds  the  book  closer  to  his  eyes, 
which  aids  in  developing  near-sightedness.  Some- 
times he  twists  his  body  around  so  as  to  receive 
the  light  on  his  book  in  the  natural  way,  and  this, 
if  allowed,  may  contribute  to  "  one-sidedness  "  or 
crookedness  of  figure. 

Windows  in  the  rear,  fronting  the  teacher,  are  very 
annoying  to  the  teacher,  and  considerably  lessen  the 
power  of  watching  the  scholars  ;  while  for  the  scholars 
they  are  exceedingly  bad,  as  they  throw  the  shadow 
of  the  person  on  the  desk  or  book. 

The  most  agreeable  light  to  write  by  is  one  which 
comes  from  a  pretty  high  point,  and  strikes  the  page 
at  a  wide  angle.  An  ordinary  window  will  not  give 
such  a  light,  but  may  still  be  found  very  suitable  if 
placed  on  the  left  of  the  scholars. 

Light  entering  horizontally  has  hardly  any  value 
for  a  student  who  has  to  use  a  flat  desk.  The  ex- 
F 


82          SCHOOL  AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

periment  may  easily  be  made  by  any  one.  Hence, 
the  lower  panes  of  windows  are  of  little  use  as  admit- 
ting light  for  study.  The  upper  parts  are  by  far  the 
most  important,  because  they  throw  light  to  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  room,  and  also  light  up  the  ceiling, 
which  in  reality  is  a  principal  source  of  light.  By 
the  use  of  iron  beams,  the  window-heads  may  be 
brought  within  a  few  inches  of  the  ceiling. 

The  reader  will  easily  see  the  objections  to  a  semi- 
circular arrangement  of  the  seats  in  a  room  (as  is  often 
the  case  in  primary  schools).  It  is  not  an  advantage 
to  the  teacher  to  have  to  turn  her  head  to  the  right  and 
the  left,  as  must  be  done  if  her  chair  is  near  the  imagin- 
ary centre.  Nor  can  such  a  group  of  seats  be  fairly 
lighted  without  throwing  light  directly  in  the  faces 
of  some  of  the  scholars,  not  to  speak  of  the  teacher. 

The  size  of  the  windows,  taken  collectively,  should 
equal  at  least  one-sixth  of  the  floor-space,  and  ought 
generally  to  be  more.  In  the  best  American  schools, 
it  is  very  much  more. 

Shades.  —  The  best  protection  against  a  hot  sun  is 
furnished  by  Italian  canvas  screens.  Common  cloth 
shades,  with  rollers,  are  good ;  they  had  better  be 
rolled  at  the  bottom.  Shades  with  slats  are  better. 

White  daylight,  the  unaltered  light  of  white  clouds, 
or  the  clear  sky  is  better  than  colored  light  to  work 
by;  hence,  there  is  no  advantage  in  tinting  the  ceil- 
ing, or  in  giving  it  any  other  than  a  clear-white  color. 
But  the  walls  at  which  the  inmates  of  the  room  must 


A   MODEL   SCHOOL-ROOM.  83 

be  frequently  looking,  and  which  cast  side-lights  into 
the  eyes  at  most  times,  may  be  tinted  of  a  bluish,  or 
semi-violet,  or  neutral  hue. 

The  blackboards  should  be  so  placed  as  to  receive 
a  good  light.  If  put  between  windows,  this  is  not 
the  case,  and  the  eye  is  fatigued  by  the  bright  light 
at  the  side. 

Polished,  brilliant,  dazzling  surfaces,  or  light-col- 
ored surfaces  on  which  the  sun  is  shining,  should 
never  catch  the  eye  while  at  work.  The  floor  should 
be  dark  and  without  polish.  The  sun's  rays  should 
never  fall  on  the  scholar's  work. 

Artificial  light  has  to  be  used  in  some  cases.  It 
should  be  given  by  powerful  burners  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  the  pupils.  Ground-glass  is  bad  for 
shades.  Ground  or  ribbed  glass  is  bad  for  windows. 

Gas-light  is  a  very  good  illuminator  when  the  gas 
is  good.  But  there  is  a  great  deal  of  an  injurious 
substance  given  off  in  burning,  chiefly  consisting  of 
sulphurous  acid,  which  ought  always  to  be  got  rid  of 
by  a  special  ventilating-cap  and  flue  applied  to  the 
gas-flame,  so  arranged  as  to  lead  the  spoiled  air 
straight  to  the  house-chimney  before  it  can  mingle  with 
the  air  of  the  room.  The  tube  may  be  so  managed 
as  to  have  a  powerful  ventilating  action  on  the  at- 
mosphere of  the  room,  also. 

Decoration.  —  The  sun  is  the  best  decorator,  and 
should  be  let  in  when  this  is  consistent  with  other 
points.  Flowers,  plants,  colored  prints,  light  and 


84          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

pretty  wood  for  desks,  give  an  impression  of  great 
cheerfulness,  which  it  is  very  desirable  to  maintain 
in  the  interests  of  health.  The  lower  part  of  the 
wall  may  be  wainscoted,  to  preserve  it  and  facilitate 
cleaning.  Wall-paper  should  not  be  used  ;  the  walls 
should  be  finished  with  a  material -that  can  be  cleaned 
or  else  whitewashed. 

Architectural  ornament  is  the  last  thing  to  be 
thought  of  in  a  school-house,  which  should  be  built, 
first  and  foremost,  to  do  its  work  well  —  as  we  build 
a  locomotive-engine.  "Architecture,"  /'.  e.,  con- 
siderations of  external  appearance,  may  be  considered 
a  foe  to  the  health  of  school-children  when  it  is 
allowed  to  absorb  school-funds  to  the  neglect  of 
essential  internal  parts.  The  use  of  flanking  projec- 
tions, buttresses,  pointed  arches,  or  other  features 
which  cut  off  portions  of  light,  is  to  be  condemned 
entirely;  the  exterior  appearance  of  a  school-house 
must  necessarily  be  rather  plain  in  certain  respects. 

Closets. — The  children's  outer  clothing  and  um- 
brellas should  not  be  kept  in  the  class-room,  to  pollute 
the  air  with  their  steaming  exhalations.  A  closet 
must  be  provided  with  space  enough  for  each  child's 
clothing  to  hang  free  of  the  next  one's;  and  the 
closet  should  be  warmed,  lighted,  and  ventilated. 
Its  position  will  naturally  be  near  the  class-room  in 
ordinary  cases. 

The  floor  should  be  of  hard,  close-grained  wood, 
of  a  kind  which  will  not  easily  splinter. 


CHAPTER    X. 

VENTILATION   AND    HEATING. 

IT  is  impossible  to  do  justice  to  either  of  these 
subjects  separately.  The  air  breathed  must  be 
warmed  for  a  large  part  of  the  year.  The  warmed 
air  must  be  got  rid  of  by  ventilating  apparatus,  which, 
again,  is  often  in  close  relation  with  that  for  heating. 
The  annual  bills  for  heating  and  for  ventilation  de- 
pend equally  on  the  price  of  coal.  In  practice  it  is 
found  that,  unless  planned  to  work  together,  the 
"system"  of  ventilation  often  contradicts  the  "sys- 
tem" of  heating,  and  vice  versa.  Need  we  speak  of 
careless  masons,  carpenters,  and  tinsmiths,  who  ren- 
der the  best  plans  of  the  sanitary  engineer  void  and 
of  none  effect  ? 

In  a  word  :  All  heating  apparatus,  with  trifling  ex- 
ceptions, ought  to  be  apparatus  for  supplying  fresh 
air.  It  is  impossible  to  consider  the  problem  of  in- 
troducing air  without  considering  that  of  discharging 
it.  It  is  absurd  to  hire  one  man  to  get  the  air  into  a 
room,  and  another  to  get  it  out.  And  yet  this  is 
practically  done  in  assigning  contracts. 

8  85 


86          SCHOOL   AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  the  same  party  should  do 
all  the  work,  but  that  the  different  parties  should  be 
controlled  by  one  authority. 

Quality  of  the  Air. —  It  is  well  to  have  the  inlet  of 
the  air-duct  for  a  furnace  protected  from  the  more 
violent  winds.  It  is  very  desirable  to  place  it  at 
a  sufficient  height  (say  ten  or  twelve  feet)  from  the 
ground,  in  order  to  avoid  low-lying  strata  of  polluted 
air.  The  neighborhood  of  privies  is  certainly  not  a 
desirable  one ;  yet  even  this  circumstance  may  exist, 
as  was  recently  the  case  in  a  school  in  one  of  the 
large  northern  cities,  with  most  disagreeable  results. 

The  furnace  ought  not  to  leak  gas.  As  a  rule,  the 
draught  is  constantly  inward  towards  the  fire  and 
smoke,  so  that,  even  if  there  are  small  cracks  in  the 
furnace  or  flue,  there  is  no  discharge  of  gas.  It  is 
unsafe  to  have  a  valve  in  the  flue  above  the  furnace. 
Some  valves  are  expressly  made  so  as  to  shut  only 
half-way,  or  to  leave  half  of  the  flue  always  open ; 
but  it  is  better  to  regulate  the  draught,  if  necessary, 
by  dampers  to  the  inlet  of  air  under  the  fire-pot. 

A  large  furnace  is  best, —  one  large  enough  never 
to  need  to  be  made  red-hot.  Slow  combustion  is 
economical ;  but,  much  more  than  that,  it  seems  to 
supply  an  air  which  has  not  been  "killed"  or 
"  burnt/1  A  little  very  hot  air  is  known  by  expe- 
rience to  be  distressing,  when  a  large  supply  of  air 
heated  only  to  about  90°  is  perfectly  pleasant.  The 


VENTILATION  AND  HEATING.  8/ 

discomfort  is  due  to  the  want  of  fresh  air;  partly, 
also,  it  may  be,  to  a  chemical  action  of  the  red-hot 
iron  on  the  air,  or  the  transit  of  carbonic  oxide. 

The  addition  of  a  liberal  amount  of  water  by 
evaporation,  in  dry,  cold  weather,  is  a  necessity.  At 
least,  some  people  are  very  unpleasantly  affected  by 
air  that  is  not  so  treated.  Nevertheless,  there  are 
hospital-wards  (as  in  the  City  Hospital  at  Boston) 
heated  by  the  simple  introduction  of  abundant  sup- 
plies of  fresh  air  that  is  simply  warmed,  and  not  made 
moist ;  and  the  result  seems  eminently  satisfactory. 

"  Indirect  radiation  "  is  a  term  used  for  those  cases 
where  air  is  heated  at  a  central  point  and  conveyed 
in  pipes  to  the  rooms.  "Direct  radiation  "  is  the 
use  of  radiators  in  the  rooms ;  it  generally  implies 
the  absence  of  means  for  introducing  fresh  air,  and 
as  such  is  objectionable,  unless  for  heating  entries  or 
very  exposed  points. 

Apparatus  for  heating  by  steam  or  by  hot  water  are 
generally  to  be  praised.  The  great  point  to  attend 
to  is,  that  the  air  be  not  heated  in  excess. 

Stoves  have  several  objectionable  pomts.  In  the 
first  place,  they  overheat  a  part  of  the  room,  and 
leave  other  parts  cold.  This  is  obviated  in  a  degree 
by  a  screen.  But  a  still  more  important  objection  to 
most  stoves  is  the  want  of  a  method  for  introducing 
fresh  air.  Almost  any  ordinary  stove  can  be  altered, 
however,  at  moderate  expense,  so  as  to  give  a  large 


88          SCHOOL  AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

supply  of  fresh  warmed  air.  The  "fire  on  the 
hearth"  is  an  example  of  the  way  it  is  done.  A 
cylindrical  metal  screen  may  be  placed  around  the 
stove ;  it  should  reach  to  the  floor,  and  rise  as  high 
as  the  stove.  Under  the  floor  a  pipe  is  to  be  led 
from  the  space  enclosed  by  this  screen  to  the  outer 
air ;  the  pipe  passes  through  the  house-wall,  and  may 
have  a  valve  at  any  convenient  place.  This  converts 
the  stove  into  what  is  commonly  called  (when  placed 
in  a  cellar)  a  "portable  furnace"  with  "hot-air 
box."  The  fresh  air  enters  the  room  over  the  top  of 
the  screen.  This  plan  removes  the  objections  which 
attach  to  air-tight  stoves. 

Further  use  may  be  made  of  the  stove-funnel  by 
causing  it  to  warm  another  tube  which  serves  for  ven- 
tilation only.  Thus,  the  smoke- funnel  may  be  en- 
closed in  a  larger  pipe,  which  is  not  closed  either 
above  or  below,  but,  starting  at  a  proper  point  in  the 
room,  rises  with  the  funnel  through  the  roof,  and 
discharges  its  own  quantum  of  impure  air  sucked 
from  the  room. 

If  the  chimney-place  is  bricked  up,  a  hole  may  be 
knocked  in  the  brick-work,  or  at  a  higher  point  in 
the  chimney. 

A  fire  in  a  fireplace  in  an  ordinary  city  house 
may  be  supposed  to  exhaust  enough  air  from  a  room 
to  make  it  wholesome  for  ten  persons.  If  several 
gas-jets  are  burning,  this  is  no  longer  true  ;  for  a  gas- 
jet  of  the  ordinary  kind  spoils  as  much  air  as  two  or 


HEATING  AND    VENTILATION.  89 

three  persons.  Of  course,  an  open  fire  is  but  a  par- 
tial means  of  ventilation  for  a  large  school-room, 
besides  being  very  wasteful  of  fuel. 

The  requirements  for  good  ventilation  in  a  school 
are,  that  the  air  shall  be  furnished  in  a  fresh  volume 
of  from  40  to  100  cubic  meters  (1400  to  3500  cubic 
feet)  hourly  to  each  scholar.  If  the  room  is  spacious, 
there  may  be  300  cubic  feet  of  space  per  scholar,  so 
that  the  whole  air-contents  of  the  room  are  required 
to  be  evacuated  from  five  to  twelve  times  an  hour ! 
while,  if  the  room  is  of  moderate  size,  say  200  cubic 
feet  per  head,  the  change  must  go  on  faster — the  en- 
tire contents  must  be  changed  once  every  8J  minutes  ! 
And  this  can  be  done,  and  is  done,  without  causing 
a  draught.  But  we  can  see  at  once,  that  if  the  room 
is  crowded,  and  the  air  is  wholly  changed  once  mfour 
minutes  to  correspond,  the  draught  will  be  great.  A 
closely-packed  room  is  not  well  ventilated  for  just 
this  reason;  the  inmates  cannot  bear  the  draught.  A 
certain  amount  of  "elbow-room  "  must  be  given,  or 
the  air-currents  will  not  be  borne.  There  should  be, 
therefore,  about  fifteen  square  feet  of  floor-space  for 
each  inmate  of  the  room,  or  from  fifteen  to  twenty. 

These  considerations  lead  directly  to  a  fact  which, 
though  it  stares  us  in  the  face,  is  seldom  fully  compre- 
hended ;  that  fact  is,  the  expensiveness  of  ventilation. 

Every  house  requires  a  considerable  amount  of  heat 
to  keep  its  walls  warm.  Let  the  house  and  contained 
8* 


gO          SCHOOL   AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

air  be  raised  to  70°,  and  let  the  supply  of  heat  from 
the  furnace  be  cut  off,  the  whole  amount  will  pass 
away  through  the  walls  in  a  day  or  two.  This  is 
a  necessary  waste ;  or  at  least  it  can  only  be  dimin- 
ished by  furring  and  thickening  the  walls  and  by 
doubling  the  windows.  But  to  extract  every  eight 
minutes  a  school-houseful  of  freshly  heated  air,  and 
send  it  up  over  the  ridge-pole,  would  seem  extreme 
folly  to  any  one  unacquainted  with  the  facts  and  the 
necessities  of  the  case.  This  is  not  the  place  to  ex- 
plain these  necessities ;  suffice  it  to  say  that  the  school- 
house  is  a  peculiar  place,  a  very  closely  packed  place, 
and  subject  to  those  peculiar  morbid  influences  which 
attend  the  close  packing  of  human  beings,  and  which 
are  so  distinctly  proved  to  exist,  that  the  death-rates 
of  different  cities  are  high  or  low  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  people  dwelling  on  the  square  acre. 
Fortunately,  we  have  it  in  our  power,  by  the  judicious 
arrangement  of  flues  and  the  liberal  use  of  coal,  to 
render  these  school-rooms  as  wholesome  as  the  aver- 
age dwelling-house.  I  do  not  say  that  this  is  gen- 
erally accomplished,  for  it  is  not,  even  in  enlightened 
cities. 

In  a  large  school,  with  a  thousand  or  more  pupils 
(though  it  is  certainly  undesirable  to  have  even  as 
many  as  a  thousand),  a  system  of  flues  leading  to  a 
heated  chimney  is  often  used  to  carry  off  bad  air.  If 
the  draught  in  this  chimney  could  be  maintained  by 


HEATING   AND    VENTILATION.  gl 

a  little  steam-engine  and  fan,  an  economy  in  fuel 
could  doubtless  by  made,  and  the  experiment  should 
be  tried  in  some  school  where  there  are  already  steam- 
boilers. 

The  janitor,  under  proper  oversight,  may  be  made 
to  feel  the  importance  of  his  duties,  and  the  impro- 
priety of  those  customary  negligences  by  which  he 
saves  himself  trouble  and  lessens  the  amount  of  coal 
burned.  If  he  be  found  incapable  of  taking  a  proper 
pride  in  his  duty,  he  should  be  replaced  by  another. 

One  point  is  seldom  conceded  by  this  class  of  men. 
The  cellar  air  is  their  native  element,  and  they  sel- 
dom realize  that  it  is  an  impure  element.  They  do 
not  practically  know  that  cellar  air  is  generally  un- 
suitable for  the  supply  of  the  furnace  air-box.  If 
not  prevented,  they  will  at  times  close  the  outer  orifice 
of  the  duct,  and  open  a  slide  which  admits  the  cellar 
air  into  the  furnace  box.  It  can  rarely  be  safe  to  do 
this. 

There  are  certain  contrivances  for  letting  fresh  air 
enter  a  room  unwarmed  without  striking  the  scholars. 
One  of  the  best  and  simplest  is  to  place  a  narrow 
piece  of  wood  under  the  lower  sash.  The  effect  is  to 
leave  a  narrow  opening  between  the  sashes,  which 
admits  air  in  an  upward  direction. 

Another  plan  is  to  use  a  wider  board,  and  pierce  it 
with  one  or  two  wide  pipes  bent  at  right  angles  and 
provided  with  valves ;  this,  also,  throws  the  wind 


92          SCHOOL  AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

upward.  This  is  called  the  "  Maine "  ventilator. 
Sometimes  it  is  modified  by  covering  the  inlet  with 
tin,  perforated  with  fine  holes.  The  object  of  doing 
this  is  to  prevent  the  inflow  of  a  great  volume  of  air 
in  the  form  of  a  draught ;  but  it  really  shuts  out  about 
three-quarters  of  the  air.  Then  there  is  a  contrivance 
for  letting  air  enter  through  a  sifter  of. cloth,  in  the 
upward  direction ;  but  the  cloth  can  easily  be  per- 
ceived to  lessen  the  ventilating  effect  most  essentially. 
A  better  method  for  sifting  the  air  (because  simpler 
and  cheaper)  consists  in  simply  tacking  very  thin 
flannel  to  a  mosquito-frame,  in  the  place  of  gauze, 
and  inserting  the  frame  as  .is  usually  done.  If  it  is 
thought  desirable,  both  sides  of  the  frame  may  be 
thus  covered.  The  plan  is  "found  effectual. 

Dr.  Keen,  the  editor  of  this  series,  "  tacks  or  pins 
a  piece  of  cloth  or  newspaper  across  the  lower  ten  or 
twelve  inches  of  the  window-frame  and  to  the  win- 
dow-sill ;  then  raises  the  lower  sash  one  inch  to  six 
inches,  according  to  the  weather.  By  this  means, 
the  draught  is  made  to  pass  in  the  upward  direction, 
both  from  between  the  two  sashes  and  from  the  open- 
ing beneath  the  lower  sash."  * 

These  inlets  for  fresh  air,  however,  will  not  always 
let  air  pass.  On  a  "close  day,"  when  there  is  no 
wind,  even  wide-open  windows  will  not  sufficiently 
ventilate  a  room  full  of  people.  If  windows  are 

*  See  "  Winter  and  its  Dangers,"  Health  Primer  in  this  series, 
by  Dr.  Osgood,  in  which  these  various  plans  are  illustrated. 


HEATING  AND    VENTILATION.  93 

placed  on  two  sides  of  a  room,  ventilation  is  much 
more  likely  to  do  good ;  if  on  opposite  sides,  all  the 
better ;  but  in  school-rooms  there  is  an  objection  to 
this  plan,  owing  to  the  interference  of  the  light.  The 
true  value  of  these  window  arrangements  seems  to  me 
to  depend  on  the  existence  of  a  chimney  or  other 
similar  draught-compeller  in  the  room.  If  air  is 
sucked  out  by  the  flue,  air  will  readily  enter  by  even 
small  openings  in  windows;  but  if  not,  a  window 
opened  a  foot  or  two  will  often  have  but  little  effect. 

Temperature. — It  maybe  proper  here  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  disturbing  effect  which  excessive  heat  has 
on  the  circulation  in  the  brain,  especially  when  the 
air  at  the  floor  is  cold  and  the  air  at  the  level  of  the 
head  is  hot.  A  temperature  of  sixty-five  is  agreeable 
to  healthy  children,  if  they  have  an  occasional  chance 
to  stir  themselves,  and  if  their  clothes  are  dry.  Sev- 
enty should  not  be  exceeded ;  and  it  is  desirable  that 
no  two  parts  of  the  room  should  differ  more  than  two 
degrees  (2°  Fah.). 

Wet  clothing  must  not  be  allowed  to  remain  on  the 
scholar's  person.  This  must  be  an  imperative  rule, 
enforced  by  the  teacher's  personal  attention. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  mention  colds  in  the 
throat,  head,  and  lungs  as  favored  by  such  neglect. 
It  is,  however,  easily  forgotten  that  catarrhal  affec- 
tions of  the  eye  and  ear,  producing  impaired  sight 
and  hearing,  and  menstrual  irregularity,  are  also 
liable  to  be  caused  or  aggravated  by  such  neglect. 


CHAPTER   XL 

SITE,    DRAINAGE,    ETC. 

SITE  OF  HOUSE.— This  should  be  as  healthy  as 
possible.  The  character  of  the  sub-soil  should 
be  known,  in  order  that  proper  precautions  may  be 
taken  against  dampness,  if  clay,  hard-pan,  or  rock 
forms  an  obstacle  to  natural  drainage. 

Some  protection  from  the  north  winds  is  desirable ; 
but  the  bottom  of  a  valley,  or  low-lying  ground,  is 
generally  objectionable. 

The  plan  should  be  such  that  the  sun  may  enter 
every  room  of  the  house  in  the  winter  as  well  as 
summer. 

The  lot  ought  to  include  play-grounds  in  the  city; 
at  the  least,  there  should  be  space  enough  about  the 
house  to  allow  sufficient  light  to  enter  the  windows. 
This  requires  a  considerable  outlay  for  land,  which 
seems  to  be  regarded  as  superfluous  in  some  large 
cities.  In  the  recent  competition  between  plans  for 
model  schools,  at  New  York,  this  point  was  forced 
upon  the  notice  of  the  committee  of  award.  In  their 
report,  they  claim  that  a  public  school  building  in  a 

94 


SITE,  DRAINAGE,  ETC.  95 

large  and  densely  populated  city  should  not  occupy 
more  than  half  the  lot;  and  that,  further,  "at  least 
two  adjoining  sides  of  the  building  should  be  freely 
exposed  to  light  and  air ;  for  which  purpose  they 
should  be  not  less  than  sixty  feet  distant  from  any 
opposite  building." 

The  terms  of  competition  in  this  case  were,  that 
the  house  should  accommodate  eight  hundred  chil- 
dren, and  should  be  built  on  a  lot  one  hundred  feet 
square,  facing  north,  enclosed  by  buildings  of  average 
city  height  on  the  other  three  sides.  As  a  result  of 
the  competition,  it  appears  to  the  committee  that 
such  a  house  cannot  probably  be  built  on  such  a  lot 
consistently  with  the  requirements  of  health.  The 
children  can  be  provided  for,  but  the  light  will  prob- 
ably be  defective  in  many  rooms  even  with  the  best 
arrangement. 

Height  of  House. — One  of  the  points  to  be  aimed 
at  in  the  sanitary  reform  of  schools  is  a  reduction  in 
the  height  of  buildings.  A  strict  system  of  drill 
may  prove  the  surest  precaution  against  accident  in 
case  of  fire,  and  deserves  to  be  kept  up.  But  there 
are  many  children — particularly  girls — who  ought  not 
to  be  required  to  ascend  many  stairs.  In  the  course 
of  a  forenoon,  several  lessons  may  have  to  be  recited 
in  different  parts  of  the  house,  with  going  up  and 
down  ;  and  the  recess  or  recesses  are,  or  ought  to  be, 
taken  in  the  school-yard.  Decided  injury  from  exer- 


96          SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL    HYGIENE. 

tion  of  this  sort  occurs;  in  occasional  cases ;  and  it  is 
a  disadvantage  to  any  girl  to  be  placed  so  high  that 
she  is  unwilling  to  take  the  trouble  to  go  out  of  doors 
at  recess. 

Sewerage. — It  is  doubtful  whether  privy  accommo- 
dations, or  water-closets,  for  a  large  school,  can  safely 
be  placed  in  the  cellar.  There  will  pretty  surely  be 
a  nuisance  of  greater  or  less  extent,  which  is  much 
more  serious  than  if  it  existed  on  an  upper  story,  or 
in  a  yard,  since  the  air  of  cellars  must  rise  more  or 
less  into  the  house.  If  the  plan  be  tried,  let  all  pre- 
cautions be  taken  :  if  water-closets  are  used,  they 
should  not  be  of  the  pan  variety,  but  rather  hopper- 
closets,  or  some  form  made  entirely  of  earthenware, 
and  should  provide  a  rapid,  abundant  discharge  of 
water;  if  urinals,  they  should  contain  no  wood-work 
in  any  place  which  can  be  reached  by  spattering,  and 
should  be  made  of  impervious  stone  or  glass — not 
metal.  A  long  trough  of  masonry,  kept  partly  full 
of  water,  is  a  good  substitute  for  water-  closets.  Some 
closets  should  be  placed  on  the  different  stories,  in 
any  case.  It  is  far  the  best  if  the  whole  can  be  put 
in  a  tower,  semi-detached  and  accessible  from  every 
story  of  the  main  building. 

A  correspondent  from  a  distant  city  writes  as  fol- 
lows :  "  From  considerable  observation  and  inspec- 
tion of  the  public  schools,  I  am  sure  that  the  water- 
closets,  on  the  boys'  side  at  least,  are  as  filthy  as  they 


SITE,  DRAINAGE,  ETC.  97 

can  be ;  so  filthy,  in  fact,  that  no  decent  boy  can  or 
will  use  them."  This  state  of  things  is  familiar  to 
me  as  a  reminiscence  of  childhood ;  at  present  my 
observation,  confined  to  the  city  of  Boston,  points  to 
a  very  great  improvement,  seconded  in  many  cases 
by  the  very  anxious  care  of  the  masters.  But  in 
many  cases  there  is  a  truly  shocking  state  of  things,* 
descending  in  one  case,  reported  by  a  correspondent, 
to  the  use  of  a  common  waterless  privy  in  the  second 
story  of  a  school,  while  in  country  places  there  are 
numberless  cases  of  shameful  neglect.  The  old-fash- 
ioned plan,  which  allowed  all  the  excrement  to  lie  in 
a  heap  on  the  surface  of  the  soil,  is  by  no  means  the 
worst  of  all  these.  Where  earth  is  plenty  and  waste 
land  near  by,  there  is  no  excuse  for  not  "sanitating" 
the  privy  by  throwing  in  a  layer  of  fresh  dry  loam  once 
in  a  week  or  two  so  as  to  cover  up  everything,  and 
removing  all  the  contents  together,  and  burying  them, 
every  two  or  three  weeks  at  longest.  This  plan,  if 
faithfully  pursued,  will  almost  entirely  destroy  odor. 
9  G 


CHAPTER     XII. 

PRIVATE   SCHOOLS. 

A  FEW  points  may  be  added  of  special  application 
to  boarding-schools  and  private  day-schools. 

Both  classes  of  schools  are  very  .often  held  in  com- 
mon dwelling-houses,  very  slightly  changed  by  adding 
an  L,  or  something  of  the  sort. 

Dwelling-rooms  and  parlors  are  very  often  not  pro- 
vided with  windows  sufficient  to  light  them  well  for 
school  purposes.  They  are,  unfortunately,  often  not 
provided  with  fireplaces — an  unpardonable  fault. 

As  regards  light,  much  may  be  done  to  improve 
matters  by  using  light  colors  for  walls  ;  by  whitening 
the  ceiling ;  by  cutting  down  trees  in  front,  and  re- 
moving drapery-curtains  within. 

A  room  with  ten  or  a  dozen  pupils  may  be  made 
comfortable  (as  regards  the  freshness  of  the  air)  by 
an  open  fireplace.  For  a  larger  number  there  are 
needed  special  arrangements  for  ventilation,  such  as 
openings  in  the  flues  at  ten  feet  from  the  floor  and  at 
the  floor ;  or  tin  tubes,  heated  by  one  or  two  gas- 
jets,  acting  as  flues. 

98 


PRIVATE  SCHOOLS.  99 

It  is,  of  course,  desirable  not  to  let  more  than  two 
pupils  sleep  in  one  ordinary  room.  A  great  deal  of 
crowding,  however,  of  a  very  reprehensible  sort,  may 
be  found  in  boarding-schools.  Under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, 1000  cubic  feet  of  space  should  be  allowed 
for  one  person  to  sleep  in. 

The  purity  of  the  air  depends  on  many  external 
circumstances.  A  house  with  many  windows,  on  a 
corner  lot,  with  free  exposure  to  wind  and  sun,  and 
not  very  solidly  finished  in  the  wood- work,  is  likely 
to  have  much  more  and  better  air  than  one  in  a  nar- 
row street,  with  the  rear  built  around.  Old  houses 
are  often  musty  ;  I  will  not  say  incurably  so,  but  their 
atmosphere  is  commonly  tolerated  rather  than  that 
trouble  should  be  taken. 

Dormitories  should  be  strictly  supervised.  A 
teacher  should  regulate,  or  oversee,  the  admission  of 
air  by  windows  at  night.  A  good  dormitory  for  boys 
may  be  made  of  a  long  room,  with  a  row  of  small 
compartments  on  each  side,  each  containing  a  bed 
and  a  window ;  the  partitions,  not  permanent  but 
screens,  not  exceeding  six  feet  in  height,  and  the 
doors  consisting  of  curtains.  Ventilation  by  open 
windows  at  the  ends  may  be  safely  practised  in  the 
case  of  healthy  young  folks. 

Supervision  should  be  exercised,  also,  in  the  inter- 
ests of  morality.  Licentious  practices  are  certain  to 
be  introduced,  unless  this  is  done.  A  late  distin- 


IOO       SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

guished  hygienist  assured  me,  that  in  a  boarding- 
school  which  he  attended,  he  was  sure  that  all  the 
boys  but  one  or  two  were  guilty  of  such  practices ; 
and  he  added  that  this  was  not  an  exceptional 
school.  But  a  very  great  deal  can  be  done,  by  mas- 
ters who  are  themselves  of  pure  lives,  in  checking 
such  tendencies.  Teachers,  and  especially  parents, 
can  do  incalculable  good  by  suitable  explanations  to 
pupils  of  say  twelve  years  and  upwards,  who  sin  far 
oftener  from  ignorance  than  from  vice. 

Perhaps  less  needs  to  be  said  in  regard  to  girls ; 
but  it  is  well  known  that  vicious  persons  occasionally 
enter  the  best  establishments,  and  that  the  love  of 
imitation  misleads  even  those  whose  behavior  and 
general  intentions  are  good. 

It  may  be  superfluous  to  say  that  girls  at  a  board- 
ing-school need  that  kind  of  care  which  mothers 
should  give.  It  may  be  safe  to  let  steady  young 
women  of  sixteen  or  upwards  go  to  large  colleges  for 
girls ;  but  younger  girls,  in  my  opinion,  ought  not  to 
be  placed  in  large  schools  away  from  home.  The 
tranquillity,  the  absence  of  exciting  influences,  or  at 
least  their  absence  during  a  greater  part  of  the  day, 
which  prevail  in  a  well-ordered  house,  are  necessary 
at  that  age,  if  ever,  in  laying  the  foundations  of  a 
firm  and  steady  nervous  system.  The  constant 
presence  of  scores  or  hundreds  of  other  girls,  some 
critical,  some  vindictive,  some  too  demonstratively 


PRIVATE  SCHOOLS.  IOI 

friendly,  is  a  strain  upon  the  nervous  system  of  r 
child. 

Children  ought  to  have  some  hours  in  the  day  in 
which  to  do  exactly  what  they  like,  inventing  their 
own  amusement,  and  laughing  as  loud  as  they  will. 

Boys  should  have  a  good  gymnasium,  and,  in 
the  country,  place  and  means  for  out-door  games. 
Girls  should  be  obliged  to  have  proper  shoes  (heels 
not  over  half  an  inch  high),  and  should  be  let  out  (or 
led  out,  if  necessary,)  to  walk  twice  a  day;  they 
ought  to  learn  the  habit  of  walking  while  at  school. 

Music  is  a  fatiguing  occupation ;  if  the  scholar  is 
fond  of  it,  it  is  not  less  an  exertion,  and  should  not 
be  carried  far  (say  not  over  an  hour  a  day  of  prac- 
tice) without  a  corresponding  reduction  of  study. 
Arid  no  prolonged  practice  should  be  allowed  without 
suitable  breaks,  in  accordance  with  general  principles 
which  have  been  fully  explained. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

COLLEGES. 

IT  may  be  questioned  whether  college  students  should 
be  included  in  a  work  on  "school ' '  hygiene.  They 
are,  however,  very  largely  under  age  and  in  the  grow- 
ing period.  The  average  age  at  entrance  in  the  best 
colleges  is  about  nineteen.  In  the  Amherst  statistics 
it  appears  that  during  the  four  college  years  they 
grow  in  height  1.3  inches  and  in  weight  n.i  pounds. 
The  two  lower  classes,  at  least,  are  of  the  age  which 
breaks  down  in  military  life.  They  are  unformed, 
unconsolidated,  and  none  know  better  than  the  au- 
thorities of  colleges  how  ductile  their  minds  are  in 
certain  directions  not  laid  down  in  the  curriculum  of 
study. 

The  inference  from  these  remarks  is  plain :  the 
students  must  not  be  left  to  themselves  in  physical 
matters.  The  younger  classes,  at  least,  should  be 
compelled  to  attend  regular  exercises  in  gymnastics 
under  the  charge  of  some  respected  person.  The 
title  and  position  of  professor  may  confer  that  re- 
spect, or  distinction  as  an  athlete  and  an  ingenious 


COLLEGES.  IO3 

inventor  of  apparatus  may  give  it ;  but  a  mere  prize- 
fighter or  trapezist  is  not  likely  to  do  well.  He  should 
be  chosen  with  the  same  care  as  a  professor  in  Chinese. 

The  exercises  required  of  a  whole  class  must,  nec- 
essarily, be  such  as  fall  far  within  the  capacity  of 
some.  They  should  include  a  brisk  run,  free-hand 
exercises,  and  exercise  with  wooden  dumb-bells  or 
light  clubs.  The  class  is  divided  into  sections,  each 
under  the  lead  of  a  student.  There  is  no  reason  why 
a  hundred  or  more  should  not  exercise  at  once  in 
this  way,  with  the  assistance  of  music.  Thirty  or 
forty  minutes  a  day  is  sufficient  for  the  purposes  of 
health  for  most  students.  Those  whose  larger  mus- 
cular development  craves  more  work  should  be  put 
into  special  classes  or  allowed  to  use  all  kinds  of 
apparatus,  but  always  under  the  general  control  of 
the  teacher.  There  will  be  students  who  could  be 
trusted  with  instructing  classes,  but  most  of  them 
have  a  propensity  to  lame  themselves,  and  get  dis- 
couraged over  the  hardest  apparatus  the  moment  they 
first  enter  the  gymnasium ;  and,  in  short,  nine-tenths 
of  them  are  no  more  fit  to  be  trusted  alone  than  little 
boys  are  with  firearms. 

The  use  of  the  gymnasium  is  a  necessity  for  those 
who  intend  to  do  boating.  The  latter  exercise,  as 
performed  in  swift  shells,  has  very  little  tendency  to 
develop  the  chest.  It  brings  a  great  and  sudden 
strain  on  the  heart  and  lungs,  which  is  very  likely  to 


IO4       SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL    HYGIENE. 

be  injurious  in  either  of  two  cases :  first,  if  the  boy's 
frame  is  below  a  certain  minimum  of  development ; 
and,  second,  if,  being  of  fair  natural  growth,  he  is 
not  specially  trained  to  chest -power — the  capacity  of 
the  lungs  and  heart  to  receive  a  double  amount  of 
air  and  blood  in  a  given  time,.  The  pulse  of  oars- 
men after  a  race  beats  at  twice  the  normal  rate,  and 
a  long  and  careful  training  alone  can  make  such  a 
strain  safe.  If  boating  is  to  be  encouraged, —  and  I 
believe  it  should  be, — a  gymnasium  is  a  necessity. 

It  is  a  great  benefit  to  the  students  to  have  good, 
substantial  "commons  "  provided  for  them.  This  is 
done  at  Harvard  in  a  very  satisfactory  manner  and  at 
exceedingly  cheap  rates.  Many  students  injure  their 
health  by  "boarding  themselves"  in  their  own  rooms, 
and  this  class  especially  need  such  a  public  provision. 

In  regard  to  the  structure  of  college  dormitories, 
it  would  be  well  to  place  them  running  north  and 
south,  so  that  the  sun  shall  enter  every  window.  For 
further  remarks  on  the  site  of  buildings,  see  Chap- 
ter XL 

The  public  have  been  recently  excited  at  the  fatal 
epidemic  in  Princeton  College.  There  is  nothing  at 
all  new  in  such  an  event ;  and  if  instructive,  it  is  so 
only  in  one  point,  namely,  that  filth  generates  disease 
in  seminaries  of  learning  as  readily  as  in  New  York 
tenement-houses. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

CONTAGIOUS    DISEASE. 

IF  a  person  residing  in  a  school  is  attacked  by  small- 
pox, varioloid,  scariet-fever,  measles,  diphtheria, 
or  any  contagious  disease  of  "the  eye  or  skin,  such 
person  should  at  once  be  removed  or  absolutely 
isolated.  It  should  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the 
physician  to  decide  whether  such  isolation  shall  be 
considered  sufficient  to  permit  the  other  scholars  to 
remain.  Such  may  be  thought  the  case  if  the  school 
is  in  the  country  and  has  a  separate  building  for  an 
hospital.  It  may  be  thought  safe  for  day-scholars  to 
come  (e.  g.,  to  the  rooms  in  the  lowest  story,  while 
the  patient  is  in  the  top  of  the  house)  \  but,  in  gen- 
eral, prudence  will  lead  to  a  suspension. 

After  recovery,  thorough  disinfection  of  the  room 
used  by  the  patient  is  accomplished  by  burning  two 
pounds  of  sulphur.  Previous  to  doing  this,  all  bed- 
ding is  exposed  as  much  as  possible  by  spreading  it 
on  chairs,  etc.  ;  and  the  windows  and  doors  are 
closed  tightly.  The  wood-work  in  the  room,  of  all 
sorts,  is  then  to  be  sponged  repeatedly  with  solutions 
of  chlorinated  soda  or  carbolic  acid. 

105 


IO6       SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

In  the  case  of  public  schools,  the  following  rules 
are  suggested :  * 

"A  certificate  of  vaccination  to  be  required  of  every 
child  entering  the  public  schools. 

"Physicians  to  be  required,  under  penalties,  to  re- 
port to  local  boards  of  health  all  cases  of  dangerous 
infectious  diseases  observed  by  them ;  the  board  to 
inform  principals  of  schools. 

"  The  existence  of  any  case  of  such  diseases  in  a 
house  to  exclude  the  inmates  from  attendance  at 
schools  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time,  the  propriety 
of  re-adrnission  being  certified  to  by  a  competent 
physician. 

"Disinfection  of  premises  and  clothing  by  the 
board  of  health  in  every  house  where  the  above  dis- 
eases have  prevailed. 

"  Medical  authority  to  be  designated,  for  the  purpose 
of  advising  teachers  and  pupils,  and  pointing  out  to 
the  school  committee  matters  in  regard  to  which  their 
authority  might  be  used  to  improve  the  sanitary  con- 
dition of  schools." 

*  See  "  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Health  Report,"  1878, 
page  252. 


PART    II. 
INDUSTRIAL    HYGIENE. 


CHAPTER    I. 

INJURIOUS    EFFECTS    OF    INHALING    DUSTY   AND 
POISONOUS   SUBSTANCES. 

IN  the  present  brief  sketch  an  attempt  will  be  made 
to  present  some  of  the  principal  injuries  which  are 
inflicted  on  workmen  in  various  trades  by  the  noxious 
character  of  their  work.  Some  remarks  will  also  be 
made  upon  the  number  of  hours  of  labor  in  occupa- 
tions which  are  not  of  themselves  especially  un- 
healthy; upon  accidents  from  machinery;  and,  in 
conclusion,  upon  the  " expectation  of  life"  in  differ- 
ent employments. 

The  present  chapter  has  to  deal  with  a  large  num- 
ber of  trades,  and  many  striking  facts. 

Among  those  which  have  excited  most  sympathy — 
and  which  in  truth  are  adapted  to  do  so  —  are  those 
relating  to  the  deadly  effects  of  certain  kinds  of  dust 
upon  the  lungs.  The  form  of  consumption  which  is 

107 


IO8        SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

thus  produced  is  apt  to  begin  gradually ;  though  in 
some  trades  the  artisan  is  affected  in  a  few  days.  It 
is  not  exactly  what  is  known  as  tuberculous  consump- 
tion, for  it  is  said  that  it  is  not  hereditary,  and  that 
workmen  who  are  suffering  in  its  early  stages  are  pretty 
sure  to  recover  if  they  change  their  employment  for 
a  healthful  one.  There  are  a  great  many  kinds  of 
dust  inhaled,  and  the  effects  are  not  all  alike  .in  the 
different  trades ;  but,  in  general,  there  is  a  certain 
set  of  symptoms. 

In  "grinders'  asthma,"  for  example,  there  is  first 
an  irritant,  hacking,  dry  cough,  with  a  scanty  expec- 
toration of  whitish,  stringy  mucus,  from  simple  irri- 
tation of  the  interior  of  the  lungs.  This  trouble  in- 
creases in  time,  and  the  man  becomes  weaker,  loses 
his  breath  easily,  and  breathes  with  less  vigor;  he 
perhaps  begins  to  spit  a  little  blood.  If  he  leaves 
his  dangerous  trade  at  this  point,  he  will  probably 
recover ;  if  not,  he  passes  into  a  third  stage,  where 
the  tissue  of  the  lungs  breaks  down  in  spots  and  is 
expectorated,  leaving  cavities;  he  then  surfers  from 
the  usual  symptoms  of  consumption,  viz.  :  hectic 
fever,  night  sweats,  loss  of  sleep,  emaciation,  and 
great  difficulty  of  breathing. 

The  effect  of  certain  occupations  in  producing 
consumption  may  be  estimated  by  the  statement  that, 
while  among  butchers,  tanners,  glovers,  coopers,  and 
brewers  only  from  7.9  to  11.2  in  100  have  consump- 


INJURIOUS  INHALATION.  IOQ 

tion,  brush-makers  have  49.  i,  file-cutters  62.2,  needle- 
polishers  69.6,  and  flint-workers  80,  in  100.  These 
figures  represent  European  experience,  and  are  taken 
from  a  large  number  of  workmen  of  all  classes  enter- 
ing a  large  public  hospital  in  Berlin.  Expressed  in 
words,  they  signify  that  while  consumption  is,  unfor- 
tunately, a  common  disease,  and  may  be  expected  to 
destroy  ten  per  cent,  of  the  population  (more  or  less), 
there  are  certain  trades  so  terribly  noxious  by  the 
production  of  irritating  dust,  that  those  who  work  at 
them  have  consumption  from  five  to  eight  times  as 
frequently  as  is  usual  in  other  trades. 

It  is  fortunately  the  case  that  great  relief  can  be 
given  by  mechanical  appliances  for  carrying  off  the 
dust  formed  in  the  process  of  grinding.  The  stone 
is  boxed  in  and  connected  with  a  flue,  which  rapidly 
exhausts  the  air  and  its  dusty  contents  from  the  sur- 
face of  the  stone.  Several  stones  can  be  connected 
with  one  common  flue  in  this  way.  The  draught  is 
produced  by  a  fan  driven  by  a  small  engine  of  eight 
or  ten  horse-power. 

Articles  which  can  be  ground  wet,  as  knife-blades, 
scissors,  etc.,  do  not  produce  this  trouble  to  such  an 
extent ;  but  the  artisan  is  liable  to  rheumatism  and 
pneumonia  from  the  wetting  of  his  clothes. 

Certain  articles  must  be  ground  dry,  owing  to  the 
necessity  of  carefully  avoiding  rust  in  the  finishing 
process,  as  in  the  case  of  pins  and  needles.  The 
10 


IIO       SCHOOL   AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

more  extended  use  of  machinery,  however,  in  grind- 
ing, has  of  late  done  away  with  most  of  the  injury 
from  this  form  of  dust. 

File-cutters  are  still  exposed  to  injury  from  inhala- 
tion of  particles.  You  know  that  machinery  is  used 
to  make  files;  but  a  better  article  is  turned  out  by 
hand. 

Stone-cutters,  especially  cutters  of  mill-stones,  suf- 
fer greatly  from  this  kind  of  consumption ;  and  so  do 
potters.  In  grinding  the  materials  for  earthenware 
and  porcelain  and  glass,  a  great  deal  of  the  most  in- 
jurious dust  escapes. 

In  preparing  cotton  for  use  in  the  mill  by  beating 
and  carding,  a  vast  amount  of  dust  is  generated ;  but 
a  proper  arrangement  of  draughts  ought  to  remove 
the  danger  of  inhalation. 

The  breathing  of  coal-dust  in  the  process  of  mining 
changes  the  color  of  the  entire  lung  in  a  few  years  to 
jet-black.  This  blackening  of  the  lung  is  not  con- 
fined to  colliers,  however,  for  it  is  always  found  in 
post-mortem  observations  of  adults,  to  some  extent, 
in  patches  of  lung-tissue,  and  seems  not  to  produce, 
ordinarily,  any  kind  of  disturbance.  There  seems, 
however,  to  be  no  doubt  that,  when  in  excess,  it  may 
injure  a  miner's  lung,  or,  at  all  events,  may  aggravate 
other  diseases.  Provision  is  commonly  made  for 
ventilating  mines,  which  affords  considerable  relief 
to  this  evil. 


INJURIOUS   INHALATION.  HI 

The  chief  poisonous  substances  used  in  the  arts 
and  inhaled  in  the  form  of  dust  are  arsenic,  mercury, 
and  lead. 

In  the  present  state  of  popular  knowledge,  little 
need  be  said  of  the  effects  of  arsenic  in  wall-papers. 
It  is  quite  generally  known  that  almost  all  shades  of 
color  are  producible  by  arsenical  preparations,  and 
that  such  are  actually  among  the  most  popular  for 
producing  the  favorite  neutral  tints  of  the  day, — 
green  paper  being  scarcely  more  dangerous  than  any 
other.  It  is  not  the  workmen,  however,  but  the  cus- 
tomers, who  seem  to  surfer  from  contact  with  the 
arsenical  colors ;  at  most,  they  have  certain  cuta- 
neous eruptions  and  ulcerations. 

It  is  said  to  be  very  hard  to  bring  foreign  paper- 
makers  to  terms  on  the  subject  of  arsenic.  There  are 
importers  who  faithfully  try  to  prevent  the  use  of  such 
arsenical  pigments ;  and  it  would  be  just  to  second 
their  efforts  by  legislative  action  forbidding  the  use 
of  arsenical  wall-papers  altogether.  But  it  will  not 
be  found  an  easy  task  to  overcome  the  indifference 
of  public  men  to  mere  considerations  of  health. 
Very  few  persons  die  of  this  sort  of  poisoning,  it  is 
true.  Instead  of  dying,  the  unhappy  victim  (who  is 
usually  unaware  of  the  existence  of  such  a  cause)  only 
drags  out  years  of  wretched  invalidism ;  and,  at  last, 
if  removed  from  the  injurious  influence,  is  only  ruined 
in  health  for  the  rest  of  life. 


112       SCHOOL   AND  INDUSTRIAL    HYGIENE. 

The  symptoms  of  poisoning  from  arsenical  wall- 
paper are  quite  various.  They  include  soreness  of 
the  eyes,  catarrh  of  the  nose,  throat,  and  lungs,  dys- 
pepsia and  bowel-complaints,  eruptions  on  the  skin, 
and  great  general  depression  and  debility.  It  is  often 
noticed  that  the  sufferer  is  much  worse  in  the  morn- 
ing, after  a  night  spent  in  the  poisonous  room.  The 
danger  is  greatest  when  the  colors  can  easily  be 
brushed  off,  and  is  least  when  they  are  protected  by 
a  glazing.  But  it  is  impossible  to  say  when  danger 
begins ;  and  no  arsenic  should  be  allowed. 

A  variety  of  the  papers  used  for  kindergartens 
has  been  found  to  be  highly  charged  with  arsenic. 
There  is  a  green,  very  popular  for  this  purpose,  which 
almost  betrays  itself.  Can  it  be  necessary  to  insist 
that  children  of  the  age  of  four  years  should  not  be 
allowed  to  handle  freely  so  dangerous  a  substance  ? 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  many  escape.  The  same  is 
true  of  all  contagions  and  poisons,  from  yellow  fever 
to  the  lead  contained  in  drinking  water.  It  is  neces- 
sary to  take  such  measures  as  will  protect  those  who 
are  susceptible,  who  are  likely  to  be  among  the  most 
valuable  members  of  the  community.  Before  wall- 
papers are  purchased,  it  would  be  well  to  have  them 
examined  for  arsenic.  Any  chemist,  or  indeed  any 
intelligent  doctor,  can  easily  detect  them  by  Reinsch's 
test,  at  least. 

An  eruption  of  the  legs,  painful  if  not  dangerous, 


INJURIO  US  INHALA  TION.  1 1 3 

has  been  known  to  be  produced  by  wearing  stock- 
ings dyed  red  with  coralline,  a  substance  which  may 
contain  arsenic. 

Artificial-flower  makers  are  exposed  to  the  poison 
of  arsenite  of  copper  or  the  arsenite  and  acetate 
of  copper — Scheele's  and  Schweinfurth  green;  they 
inhale  it,  and  receive  it  by  contact  with  the  skin.  The 
effects  are,  characteristically,  enfeeblement  of  the 
muscular  force,  especially  of  the  limbs ;  also  a  loss 
of  appetite,  palpitation,  pain  in  the  stomach,  diar- 
rhoea, and  constant  headache. 

Mercury  is  used  by  hatters  to  remove  hair  from 
skins.  A  solution  is  applied  to  the  skin,  and,  after 
drying  in  a  chamber,  the  hair  is  got  rid  of  by  beating  or 
brushing,  which  liberates  a  great  deal  of  some  mer- 
curial compounds.  The  effects  upon  the  health  are 
those  of  chronic  poisoning,  of  which  one  of  the  most 
prominent  is  that  nervous  complaint  called  mercurial 
trembling. 

Mirrors  are  silvered  with  an  amalgam  of  mercury 
and  tinfoil,  which  when  heated  parts  with  the  mercury 
in  the  form  of  vapor.  The  process  is  so  very  inju- 
rious that  in  a  certain  French  manufactory  the  work- 
men worked  only  six  hours  in  a  day,  and  only  on  two 
or  three  days  in  a  week.  The  remedy  for  the  trouble 
consists  in  abolishing  mercury  and  coating  mirrors 
with  silver.  A  palliative  has  been  found,  consisting 
in  the  sprinkling  of  ammonia  on  the  floors. 
10*  H 


114       SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  HYGIENE. 

In  fire-gilding,  mercury  and  gold  in  the  form  of  a 
paste  are  applied  to  the  surface,  and  the  mercury  vol- 
atilized by  heat ;  this  gives  a  much  more  solid  and 
enduring  surface  than  electro-plating,  and  the  danger- 
ous steps  of  the  operation  can  now  be  conducted  in 
closed  boxes. 

Both  mercury  and  arsenic  are  driven  off  by  heat 
in  the  process  of  roasting  certain  ores.  Mercury 
seems  to  be  very  much  the  more  dangerous  to  the  health, 
causing  sore  mouth,  loss  of  teeth,  general  debility,  or 
"cachexia,"  acute  pains,  sleeplessness,  spasm  and 
tremor,  and  paralysis  of  the  muscles,  and  intellectual 
feebleness,  besides  some  symptoms  resembling  those 
of  syphilis,  eruptions,  swellings  over  the  shin-bone, 
and  glandular  enlargement,  with  deep  ulcers  of  the 
mouth  and  nose.  Altogether,  the  occupation  of  those 
who  are  forced  to  inhale  mercury  is  one  of  the  very 
worst. 

Lead  is  a  very  common  poison — one  of  the  most 
common.  Its  poisonous  effects  are  felt  by  workers  in 
lead-mines,  by  painters,  by  those  who  grind  and  pol- 
ish flint  glass  containing  lead,  by  enamellers,  and  to 
some  extent  by  type-founders  and  printers.  Those 
suffer  most  who  have  to  do  with  the  process  of  dry- 
grinding  colors.  The  "body"  which  lead  gives  is 
so  much  thicker  than  that  of  zinc  that  the  latter  does 
not  supersede  it.  You  may  have  seen  cases  of  the 
colic  which  occurs  in  lead-poisoning.  There  is  an- 


INJURIOUS  INHALATION.  115 

other  symptom  which  is  more  disabling,  consisting  in 
a  palsy  of  the  muscles,  usually  beginning  with  those 
which  enable  a  person  to  open  his  fingers  and  throw 
the  hand  back,  so  that  subjects  of  this  palsy  go  about 
with  their  wrists  drooping  like  those  of  a  kangaroo 
or  a  begging  dog.  In  fact,  it  is  popularly  called 
"  wrist-drop." 

But  there  are  a  great  many  other  substances  which 
produce  poisonous  or  other  deleterious  emanations. 

There  are  the  irritating  vapors  of  ammonia,  chlo- 
rine, and  several  acids — sulphurous,  hyponitric,  nitric, 
hydrochloric,  and  hydrofluoric  acids. 

Etching  produces  fumes  of  hyponitric  acid  when 
done  upon  metal,  and  of  hydrofluoric  acid  when  done 
upon  glass.  Both  acids  are  corrosive  ;  the  latter  is 
excessively  so,  and  affects  the  eyes,  the  air-passages, 
and  the  hands. 

Bleaching  produces  fumes  of  chlorine  gas,  which  is 
not  injurious  in  small  amounts ;  nor  is  the  sulphur- 
ous vapor  from  straw-hat  bleaching  of  much  con- 
sequence. 

The  manufacture  of  various  chemicals  is  injurious 
to  workmen. 

Those  who  make  sulphate  of  quinia  are  liable  to 
an  eruption  which  resembles  eczema,  not  compro- 
mising life  or  health,  but  in  some  cases  preventing 
workmen  from  continuing  at  the  trade. 

The  manufacture  of  potassium  bichromate  disen- 


Il6       SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

gages  caustic  vapors,  which  destroy  the  mucous  mem- 
brane of  the  nose  and  produce  rapid-eating  ulcers 
of  the  skin. 

One  of  the  most  terrible  of  diseases  is  produced  by 
inhaling  the  fumes  of  phosphorus  in  the  process  of 
making  matches  —  a  necrosis  or  death  of  portions  of 
the  upper  and  lower  jaw-bones.  A  surgical  operation 
is  required  for  the  removal  of  such  dead  bone.  It  is, 
fortunately,  often  successful,  at  least  as  to  life;  but 
an  infinitely*better  method  is  the  preventive  one. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  fumes  of  phosphorus  pro- 
duce catarrhs  of  the  lungs  and  stomach  in  almost  all 
the  workmen ;  they  lose  appetite  and  become  pale, 
and  weak,  and  thin.  There  are  several  precautions 
which  should  be  observed,  but  the  chief  one  is  the 
substitution  of  a  kind  of  phosphorus  —  the  amorphous 
—  which  is  not  poisonous  when  swallowed,  and  does 
not  give  off  vapors,  as  common  phosphorus  does,  at 
the  ordinary  temperature  of  the  air. 

Women  suffer  more  than  men  from  several  of  the 
poisons  we  have  named.  They  not  only  lose  their 
health  more  readily,  from  a  greater  susceptibility  to 
morbid  influences  of  certain  kinds,  but  their  sexual 
system  is  very  liable  to  be  injured.  "  They  are  much 
more  susceptible  than  men  to  the  influence  of  mercu- 
rial vapors,  and  those  who  are  poisoned  abort  fre- 
quently, and  even  the  children  that  are  born  to  them 
are  apt  to  be  weak,  sickly  things,  and  die  early." 


INJURIOUS  INHALATION. 

The  infants  of  female  operatives  in  certain  branches 
of  china-making  are  almost  all  scrofulous,  with  an 
enormous  mortality.  Lead  affects  women  more  read- 
ily and  more  seriously  than  men.  They  suffer  from 
excessive  flowing  at  the  monthly  period,  and  have 
frequent  abortions.  With  regard  to  workers  in  to- 
bacco, it  is  stated  by  Tracy,  of  New  York,  that  they 
have  very  small  families ;  quite  the  reverse  of  what  is 
usually  the  case  with  working-people.  He  found 
only  four  hundred  and  sixty-five  children  in  three 
hundred  and  twenty-five  families.  It  is  not  certain 
what  the  cause  of  this  peculiar  condition  may  be;  but 
it  is  quite  probably  due  in  large  measure  to  a  prema- 
ture commencement  of  work,  and  to  an  influence 
which  tobacco  has  in  checking  the  sexual  develop- 
ment of  young  girls. 

Tobacco  is  such  an  interesting  subject  that  it  is 
hard  to  avoid  saying  more.  It  will  be  safest,  how- 
ever, to  say  but  little,  for  we  know  that  the  whole 
subject  of  tobacco  is  to  some  extent  an  open  one.  It 
is  hard  to  prove  that  the  drug  is  injurious  to  health  in 
the  case  of  most  adult  persons  who  chew  or  smoke 
it,  or  of  most  operatives ;  but  there  are  some  who  are 
seriously,  if  not  permanently,  injured  by  it ;  and  it  is 
certainly  desirable  to  keep  young  persons  under  six- 
teen from  its  use. 

The  chief  practical  points,  in  the  prevention  of  dis- 
ease arising  from  dust,  whether  poisonous  or  not,  are  : 


Il8       SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

1.  Removal  of  dust  by  ventilators,  mechanical  fans, 
etc.     This  is  enjoined  by  the  English  law  of  1878. 

2.  Wet-grinding,  grinding  in  close  vessels,  etc.,  is 
sometimes  practicable. 

3.  The  wearing  of  masks  over  the  face,  composed 
of  wire-gauze,  wire  frames  covered  with  tarletan,  res- 
pirators of  carded  cotton,  etc. ;  but  these  are  hot  and 
irksome. 

4.  If  working  with  poisonous  substances,  the  work- 
men should  wash  the  exposed  parts  —  face,  hands, 
hair,  beard  —  on  leaving  work,  especially  before  eat- 
ing, and  should  never  eat  in  the  work-room.     After 
work,  they  should  change  their  outer  clothes,  and  a 
daily  bath  is  very  desirable  in  some  occupations.    To 
protect  from  lead  and  other  dusty  poisons,  a  linen 
suit,  frequently  washed,  may  be  worn. 

The  effects  of  certain  poisons  on  the  female  sex  and 
on  children  are  so  injurious  that  special  laws  are  re- 
quired to  restrict  their  employment  in  manufactures 
where  poisons  are  used.  The  restrictions  of  the  Eng- 
lish Factory  Act  of  1878  are  as  follows: 

No  woman,  or  person  under  sixteen,  shall  take 
meals  in  any  part  of  glass-works  in  which  the  mate- 
rials are  mixed,  or  where  flint-glass  is  made,  or  where 
grinding,  polishing,  or  cutting  is  carried  on ;  or  in 
any  part  of  lucifer-match  works  in  which  any  manu- 
facturing process  or  handicraft  (except  that  of  cutting 
the  wood)  is  usually  carried  on ;  or  in  the  dippers' 


INJURIOUS  INHALATION.  IIQ 

room,  dippers'  drying-room,  or  china  scouring-room, 
in  any  earthenware  works. 

There  is  absolute  exclusion  from  labor  in  the  fol- 
lowing cases :  girls  under  sixteen,  not  allowed  to  be 
employed  in  an  establishment  where  bricks  or  tiles 
(not  ornamental  tiles)  are  made  or  finished,  or  salt  is 
made  or  finished.  No  child  under  fourteen  to  be  em- 
ployed in  a  part  of  the  building  where  dry-grinding 
in  the  metal  trade,  or  the  dipping  of  lucifer-matches, 
is  carried  on ;  under  eleven  years,  all  metal  grinding 
is  forbidden,  and  fustian  cutting.  Persons  under  six- 
teen are  forbidden  to  work  at  silvering  mirrors  by  the 
mercurial  process,  or  at  making  white-lead.  Children 
under  fourteen  and  girls  under  fifteen  are  excluded 
from  parts  where  the  process  of  melting  or  annealing 
glass  is  carried  on. 


CHAPTER    II. 

INJURIES    FROM    ATMOSPHERIC    CHANGES. 

THE  unquestionable  benefit  which  free  exposure  to 
the  air  in  all  weathers  confers  is  subject  to  cer- 
tain drawbacks.  It  is  not  necessary  to  consider  sun- 
stroke, in  the  case  of  day-laborers,  nor  accidents  by 
falling  from  roofs,  or  from  railroad  collisions,  as 
forming  an  element  in  "industrial  hygiene;"  but 
there  are  certain  causes  which  affect  the  health  per- 
manently, as  bronchitis  and  pneumonia  ;  and  to  this 
may  be  added  a  liability  to  paralysis  of  the  facial 
nerve,  which  is  especially  the  possession  of  drivers  of 
carts,  etc. 

Bronchitis  and  rheumatism  are  common  enough 
also  among  those  whose  trade  exposes  them  to  great 
heat,  as  blacksmiths,  stokers  on  steamships,  forge- 
men,  puddlers,  glass-blowers,  dyers,  and  washer- 
women. It  is,  in  fact,  neither  heat  nor  cold  that 
causes  the  trouble,  but  excessively  rapid  transitions 
from  heat  to  cold. 

The  trade  of  baker  is  apt  to  be  very  unhealthy, 
owing  to  the  confined,  close,  dark,  overheated  quar- 


ATMOSPHERIC   CHANGES.  121 

ters  in  which  it  is  carried  on;  also  the  night- work, 
and  occasional  excess  of  work. 

There  is  a  peculiar  and  interesting  class  of  disease 
which  attacks  those  who  work  in  diving-bells  or  cais- 
sons. It  is  caused  by  the  excess  of  atmospheric  press- 
ure which  exists  under  water,  which  may  equal  several 
times  that  to  which  men  are  exposed  on  land.  The 
symptoms  do  not,  however,  attack  the  laborer  on  going 
down,  but  rather  on  leaving  work.  The  case,  in  fact, 
is  parallel  to  that  of  the  aeronaut  when  he  rises  in 
his  balloon,  or  the  climber  of  mountain  peaks.  The 
symptoms,  dependent  upon  the  removal  of  pressure, 
are  as  follows :  Extreme  pain  ;  sometimes  nausea  and 
vomiting ;  sometimes  paralysis ;  sometimes  headache 
and  dizziness.  They  are  frequently  associated  with 
a  sudden  rush  of  blood  to  the  brain  and  spinal  cord. 
The  precautions  to  be  observed  are  quite  interesting. 
It  is  recommended  that  only  wiry  men  be  selected  for 
the  work ;  that  their  time  of  labor  be  shortened  in 
proportion  to  the  pressure ;  that  they  take  all  possi- 
ble care  of  themselves,  never  going  to  work  on  an 
empty  stomach,  eating  meat  and  drinking  coffee,  and, 
when  coming  out  of  the  caisson,  taking  time  to  do  it 
gradually,  passing  into  an  intermediate  atmosphere 
first,  and  resting  an  hour  afterwards. 

Miners. —  The  health  of  a  miner  is  exposed  to 
special  causes  of  injury.  In  addition  to  the  danger 
of  being  blown  up,  or  knocked  down  by  falling 
ii 


122       SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

stones,  he  is*  constantly  at  work  in  the  presence  of 
great  masses  of  minerals  which  generate  noxious 
gases, —  not  to  mention  the  effluvia  which  arise  from 
his  own  person,  the  flame  of  his  candle,  and  the  burn- 
ing of  powder.  To  this  is  added,  in  many  cases,  an 
excessive  heat,  often  a  steaming,  sultry  heat,  or  else 
a  continual  cloud  of  dust  proceeding  from  the  coal  or 
rock  under  the  blows  of  his  pick.  And  if  we  further 
consider  the  confined  position  in  which  he  often 
works,  the  excessive  exertion,  the  exposure  to  draught, 
and  the  total  deprivation  of  sunlight,  we  shall  be 
ready  to  admit  that  his  life  is  an  unnatural  one,  and 
full  of  singular  risk. 

But  man  can  adapt  himself  to  almost  anything. 
With  proper  precautions,  it  is  said  that  the  life  of  a 
miner  is  almost  as  safe,  and  his  health  quite  as  good, 
as  those  of  other  classes  in  general ;  better,  in  fact, 
than  those  of  his  own  family.  If  this  be  so,  it  is  ' 
certainly  a  great  triumph  of  the  hygienic  art. 

The  precautions  to  be  taken  relate  first  and  fore- 
most to  ventilation. 

"Fire-damp"  is  a  name  given  to  light  carburetted 
hydrogen,  which  is  given  off  abundantly  in  the  car- 
boniferous strata  and  in  enormous  quantities  from  the 
Pennsylvania  gas-wells.  In  the  English  coal-mines 
it  is  much  more  abundant  than  it  is  at  present  with 
us.  When  mixed  with  seven  or  eight  times  its  own 
volume  of  common  air,  it  is  highly  explosive.  After 


ATMOSPHERIC  CHANGES.  123 

an  explosion,  the  passages  are  filled  with  the  irrespira- 
ble  mixture  of  nitrogen,  carbonic  acid,  and  the  vapor 
of  water,  resulting  from  its  combustion. 

"  Choke-damp, "  or  "black-damp,"  is  a  name  for 
carbonic  acid,  a  common  product  of  most  combus- 
tions, and  of  respiration.  It  abounds  in  badly-ven- 
tilated mines.  Nitrogen  is  not  a  poison,  by  itself. 
Carbonic  oxide,  however,  is  one  of  the  most  danger- 
ous of  poisons,  and  so  is  sulphuretted  hydrogen  when 
present  in  any  considerable  quantity.  Both  the  latter 
are  called  "white-damp." 

The  heated  flue,  as  a  means  of  exhausting  air  from 
mines,  has  obvious  dangers  in  coal-mines ;  and  its 
special  disadvantage  lies  in  the  variations  which  dif- 
ferent atmospheric  conditions  produce  in  its  working. 

The  steam- fan,  driven  by  a  small  engine,  may  be 
used  either  for  drawing  air  from  the  mouth  of  a  mine 
or  for  forcing  it  in  through  tubes  to  the  places  where 
it  is  most  needed.  It  is,  altogether,  the  best  means 
of  ventilating  mines. 

Another  reason  for  supplying  abundance  of  fresh 
air  to  mines  is  furnished  by  the  great  heat  which  is 
found  under  ground.  In  the  Cornish  mines,  the  tem- 
perature is  said  to  increase  regularly  about  one  degree 
Fahrenheit  in  every  fifty  feet  in  the  upper  parts,  and 
one  in  every  eighty-five  feet  in  the  lower  parts ;  and 
this  is,  with  local  exceptions,  nearly  the  rate  at  which 
the  temperature  rises  in  other  mines.  Some  of  the 


124       SCHOOL  AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

exceptions,  however,  are  very  remarkable.  The  deep 
levels  of  the  mines  on  the  Comstock  Lode  in  Nevada 
have  temperatures  varying  from  105°  to  130°  Fah. ; 
and  this  excessive  heat  is  mitigated  by  blowing  upon 
the  men  fresh  air  at  90°  or  95°,  which  seems  to  be 
most  conducive  to  comfort.  The  men,  under  these 
circumstances,  work  with  great  vigor,  but  have  to  be 
frequently  relieved. 

This  great  heat  is  said  to  be  very  productive  of 
heart-disease.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  effect  is 
intensified  by  excessive  barometric  pressure  and  by 
dampness  of  the  air,  preventing  evaporation  from  the 
body.  It  is  affirmed  that  the  system  in  use  at  the 
Comstock  is  so  thorough  as  to  do  away  with  most  of 
the  danger  from  all  of  these  sources. 

To  spare  the  men  a  needless  and  wasteful  expen- 
diture of  bodily  force,  it  has  been  found  best  to  use 
cages  worked  by  engines  to  raise  and  lower  those  who 
are  going  to  or  from  work. 

The  excessive  quantity  of  coal-dust  which  chokes 
the  air  of  badly-ventilated  mines  has  been  previously 
alluded  to  as  affecting  the  lungs.  But  there  are  other 
causes  of  pulmonary  trouble,  quite  obvious  in  their 
nature,  such  as  sudden  changes  from  heat  to  cold, 
and  deliberately  sitting  down  in  draughts  to  cool  off 
after  working  in  the  high  temperatures  mentioned. 
On  the  whole,  the  principal  diseases  are  miners'  asth- 
ma, consumption,  and  rheumatism,  and,  among  those 


ATMOSPHERIC  CHANGES.  12$ 

who  have  worked  long  in  badly-ventilated  places, 
dyspepsia,  tremors,  vertigo,  and  other  troubles  arising 
from  blood-poisoning. 

As  regards  accidents,  they  are  due  to  a  great  many 
various  causes ;  but  more  than  one-half  of  them,  in 
the  Pennsylvania  coal-mines,  are  caused  by  falls  of 
rock,  coal,  or  slate.  It  is  the  opinion  of  good  judges 
that  a  very  large  number  of  these  casualties  could  be 
avoided  by  sufficient  timbering  of  the  roofs  and  sides. 
One  and  a  quarter  in  every  hundred,  or  12  J  men  in 
every  1000  employed  in  these  mines,  are  killed  or 
wounded  every  year  by  accidents  \  and  it  seems  that 
here  is  a  distinct  and  obvious  field  for  a  humane  reform, 
either  by  legislation  or  by  private  effort. 

Soldiers  and  Sailors, — In  most  of  the  European 
services  great  numbers  of  the  men  used  to  die  of  con- 
sumption and  allied  diseases,  and  fevers,  probably 
chiefly  typhoid.  This  lamentable  result  was  not  in 
the  least  due,  however,  to  exposure  to  weather,  but  to 
what  may  be  called  a  contrary  condition — the  want  of 
fresh  air  in  barracks.  In  certain  of  the  best  English 
regiments  the  losses  were  from  one-third  more  to  twice 
as  great  as  among  men  of  the  same  age  in  civil  life. 
The  fearful  loss  of  life  from  disease  in  the  Crimea  is 
well  known  •  and  it  is  from  that  time  that  the  reforms 
date  which  have  brought  down  the  total  rates  of  death 
from  disease  to  one-half  of  what  they  were.  The 


126       SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

present  allowance  in  England  is  600  cubic  feet  of 
space  to  each  man  in  barracks. 

The  ills  of  sailors  are,  to  a  very  great  extent,  caused 
by  want  of  fresh  air,  dirt,  and  dampness.  It  is  com- 
monly forgotten  that,  by  washing  down  the  deck  fre- 
quently, a  source  of  disease  is  introduced  which  is  at 
least  as  dangerous,  and  in  feverish  localities  ten  times 
more  dangerous  than  simple  dry  dirt.  Good  ventila- 
tion and  scrubbing  and  drying  are  the  cure  for  the 
chief  of  the  curable  ills  of  ship-life. 


CHAPTER    III. 

INJURIES    FROM    OVER-USE   OF    CERTAIN   ORGANS. 

IT  is  as  true  of  the  mind  as  it  is  of  the  body,  that  no 
one  part  can  be  exclusively  used  without  injury  to 
the  individual  considered  as  a  whole.  In  the  broadest 
possible  division  of  our  being,  neither  "mind"  nor 
"body"  has  a  right  to  exclusive  cultivation;  and 
such  exercise  is  never  in  the  interest  of  the  best  phys- 
ical health.  The  same  is  true  if  .we  subdivide  the 
faculties  of  body  and  mind.  There  are  many  ways 
in  which  the  mind  is  exercised  in  daily  life  :  book- 
study,  concentration  of  attention  on  discourse,  mem- 
orizing, reproducing,  extemporary  discourse;  atten- 
tion to  great  single  questions  in  business,  and  to  mul- 
titudes of  petty  ones ;  ciphering  and  copying  by  the 
day,  and  the  vivid,  sudden,  mortal  collisions  of  the 
street.  None  of  these  can  properly  be  kept  up  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  others,  unless  there  is  a  strong  pre- 
disposition and  fitness  on  the  part  of  the  individual : 
they  should  alternate  with  one  another,  for  most  per- 
sons are  incapable  of  sustaining  continued  strain  in  one 
of  these  points.  We  say  that  "worry"  kills  a  man; 

127 


128       SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

but  in  saying  so  we  mean  simply  that  the  mental  ex- 
citement upon  one  subject,  which  is  perfectly  health- 
ful if  continued  for  a  few  hours,  becomes  tyrannical 
and  destructive  if  kept  up  for  whole  days.  A  man 
may  be  worried  into  illness  by  incessant,  quiet  cipher- 
ing as  well  as  by  attendance  at  the  Brokers'  Board. 

The  care  of  the  mental  health  has  been  sufficiently 
treated  of  in  another  of  this  series  of  Primers.*  It 
is  my  purpose  here  briefly  to  mention  some  muscular 
affections  which  are  caused  by  monotonous  and  ex- 
cessive work. 

The  robust  activity  of  the  blacksmith  and  carpen- 
ter do  not  exempt  them  from  the  general  law.  They 
are  liable  to  a  disease  termed  "hammer-palsy,"  af- 
fecting the  muscles  which  are  overworked. 

A  painful  and  very  unfortunate  affection  sometimes 
attacks  those  who  write  a  good  deal.  The  premoni- 
tion is  given  sometimes  by  pain  in  the  muscles  em- 
ployed in  holding  the  pen.  There  is  apt  to  be  a 
nervous  condition  of  the  system,  a  tendency  to 
anxiety ;  but  this  is  not  always  the  case.  As  seen  in 
its  typical  form,  the  disease  presents  no  token  of  its 
existence  until  the  person  affected  begins  to  perform 
one  special  act,  as,  in  the  present  instance,  the  act  of 
writing.  There  may  be  great  muscular  vigor,  and 
complete  control  of  all  the  faculties  and  motions 

*  "  Brain- Work  and  Overwork,"  by  H.  C.  Wood,  M.D. 


OVER -USE    OF  ORGANS.  I2Q 

except  one ;  but  as  soon  as  the  patient  undertakes  to 
grasp  the  pen  and  write,  he  finds  his  fingers  in  a  state 
of  cramp ;  they  pinch  the  pen  excessively,  or  they  fly 
back  from  the  pen,  making  it  impossible  to  hold  it. 
It  is  very  desirable  that  this  should  be  recognized  in 
an  early  stage,  as  it  is  a  malady  somewhat  difficult  of 
cure,  and  absolutely  disabling  as  respects  clerical 
work.  Some  reader  may  thank  me  for  saying  that 
electricity  has  been  applied  of  late  with  good  success 
to  the  treatment  of  Writer's  Cramp  or  Palsy. 

The  affection  here  described  is  not  confined,  how- 
ever, to  writers,  but  affects  also  pianists,  violinists, 
engravers,  seamstresses,  telegraph-operators,  tailors, 
type-setters,  and  many  other  classes  who  use  one  set 
of  muscles  almost  exclusively. 

The  theory  has  been  put  forward  that  writer's  cramp 
is  caused  by  an  electric  current  generated  in  a  metallic 
pen,  or  by  the  contact  of  pen  and  holder.  This  can- 
not be  admitted.  The  disease  is  fundamentally  the 
same,  whether  caused  by  work  with  the  pen  or  on 
catgut  or  ivory.  But  a  steel-pen  may  be  found  inju- 
rious, and  can  be  replaced  by  gold  or  quill ;  or  a 
large  pen-holder  may  be  used,  made  of  cork,  of  the 
size  and  shape  of  a  large  cigar,  which  is  felt  by  many 
to  be  a  great  comfort  in  writing.  A  departure  from 
the  prescribed  mode  of  holding  the  pen,  and  placing 
it  between  the  forefinger  and  the  middle  finger,  may 
also  be  a  relief.  Dr.  Frank  Woodbury,  of  Philadel- 
I 


I3O-     SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

phia,  has  lately  invented  an  ingenious  pen-holder  to 
prevent  writer's  cramp,  by  regulating  the  pressure  at 
which  the  pen  is  used  by  a  slight  spring.  But  if  the 
disease  has  developed  itself,  no  such  palliation  is  of 
any  avail ;  and  if  the  sufferer  learns  to  write  with  the 
left  hand,  as  has  been  done,  the  left  hand  also  is  liable 
to  be  attacked.  The  temporary  use  of  the  "type- 
writing machine  "  will  often  prove  a  great  boon,  per- 
mitting a  continuation  of  work  while  resting  the  af- 
fected muscles. 

The  effect  of  using  sewing-machines  is  sometimes 
injurious.  It  is  not  worth  while  to  mention  any 
special  effects.  The  muscular  exertion,  however,  is 
of  a  monotonous  character,  and  may  produce  mus- 
cular fatigue  which  is  prejudicial  to  the  general 
health.  It  has  been  known  to  cause  neuralgia  of  the 
foot  and  leg.  In  general,  the  use  of  the  machine  two 
or  three  hours  a  day  is  probably  beneficial  to  most 
women  ;  but  a  whole  day's  work,  if  the  machine  is 
run  by  the  feet  of  the  worker,  is  far  too  severe,  and 
steam-power  had  better  be  used.  Much  has  also  been 
done  by  applying  the  principle  of  alternate  effort,  by 
a  treadle  which  is  moved  both  by  the  downward  and 
the  upward  movement  of  the  feet,  and  employs  both 
feet  at  once  or  one  at  a  time,  at  will.  Many  will 
find  relief  by  alternate  basting  and  sewing  each  for 
twenty  to  thirty  minutes. 

Steam-power  has  been  applied  with  success  to  run- 


OVER -USE    OF  ORGANS.  131 

ning  sewing-machines.  I  am  told  by  the  head  of  a 
large  manufactory  of  ladies'  dresses  that  the  machines 
do  one-third  more  work  than  when  run  by  the  foot ; 
and  that  the  girls  will  work  for  less  wages  when  steam- 
power  is  used. 

Those  who  use  the  voice  a  great  deal  in  public 
speaking  and  singing  are  apt  to  suffer  from  the  strain. 
The  most  common  affection  is  follicular  pharyngitis, 
or  "clergyman's  sore-throat."  Much  of  this  trouble 
is  unnecessary,  strictly  speaking,  or  could  be  remedied 
if  the  right  steps  could  be  taken.  The  voice  ought 
not  to  be  used  for  continued  and  difficult  efforts,  un- 
less the  possessor  is  in  good  health  and  strength.  It 
ought  not  to  be  used  in  the  crude,  ignorant,  and  even 
unintentionally  "affected"  manner  which  is  often 
heard,  and  which  fatigues  the  throat  without  need. 
The  services  of  a  competent  teacher  in  elocution  are 
to  be  desired,  not  so  much  for  rhetorical  purposes  as 
for  training  in  the  right  way  to  work  with  the  vocal 
organs.  And  by  way  of  support,  a  little  gymnastics, 
for  developing  the  chest,  shoulders,  and  abdomen, 
may  properly  accompany  the  process  of  developing 
the  voice,  in  some  cases. 

This  is  a  fit  place  for  a  brief  mention  of  the  inju- 
rious effects  of  protracted  labor  in  one  position. 
Shoemakers  and  tailors,  owing  to  their  constrained 
attitudes,  and  the  bad  air  of  their  shops,  become 
dyspeptic,  anaemic,  and  consumptive,  and  do  a  great 


132       SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

deal  more  thinking  than  is  good  for  them.  The 
sedentary  life  of  literary  people  and  clerks  is  apt  to 
affect  them  similarly. 

Persons  who  stand  all  day  at  their  work,  as  sales- 
people and  hair-dressers,  are  apt  to  have  pains  in  the 
soles  of  their  feet,  which  may  sometimes  be  relieved 
by  a  well-shaped  steel-shank  to  the  shoe.  Varicose 
veins  of  the  lower  limbs,  and  uterine  irregularities, 
are  also  caused  by  standing.  It  is  a  truly  inhuman 
thing  to  require  girls  and  women  to  remain  on  their 
feet  all  day,  without  regard  to  the  presence  or  absence 
of  customers  —  an  inhumanity  that  we  are  glad  to 
believe  is  diminishing. 


A 


CHAPTER    IV. 

INJURIES    FROM    ACCIDENTS. 

VERY  considerable  number  of  accidents  are 
caused  every  year  by  machinery  used  in  manu- 
facture. In  England,  in  1875,  2-6  persons  in  every 
1000  factory-hands  were  injured  in  this  way.  In  the 
United  States  there  were  420  reported  deaths  caused 
by  machinery  in  1870,  and  the  number  of  injuries 
was  of  course  very  much  greater. 

The  English  Factory  Act  appoints  inspectors,  who 
must  not  be  interested  in  or  connected  with  factories 
in  any  other  way,  and  who  are  invested  with  the 
necessary  powers  for  carrying  the  act  into  effect. 

Some  of  .the  provisions  of  the  act  are  here  given, 
from  an  abstract  published  in  Professor  William  Wat- 
son's paper  in  the  Journal  of  Social  Science,  No.  XI. 

Certain  portions  of  a  mill,  as  hoists,  fly-wheels, 
wheel-races,  mill-gearing,  vats,  etc.,  are  required  to 
be  fenced,  and  whenever  the  machinery,  by  reason  of 
its  character  or  situation,  is,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
inspector,  likely  to  cause  accidents  to  the  work- 
people, he  is  to  serve  on  the  occupier  a  notice 

12  133 


134       SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL  HYGIENE. 

requiring  him  to  fence  the  part  of  the  machinery 
which  he  deems  to  be  dangerous.  The  occupier 
may,  by  serving  a  requisition  on  the  inspector  within 
seven  days  of  the  receipt  of  the  notice,  refer  the  mat- 
ter to  arbitration. 

A  child  (under  fourteen)  is  not  allowed  to  clean 
any  part  of  the  machinery  of  a  factory  while  in  mo- 
tion. A  young  person  (from  fourteen  to  eighteen)  or 
woman  (over  eighteen)  is  not  allowed  to  clean  such 
part  of  the  machinery  as  is  mill-gearing,  while  the 
same  is  in  motion.  A  child,  young  person,  or  woman 
is  not  allowed  to  walk  between  the  fixed  and  travers- 
ing part  of  any  self-acting  machine  while  the  same  is 
in  motion. 

Accidents  causing  death,  or  disabling  the  person 
more  than  forty-eight  hours,  must  be  reported  to  the 
inspector  and  visiting  surgeon  by  the  occupier  of  the 
factory  or  workshop.  The  surgeon  is  to  examine  at 
once  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accident,  and  report 
to  the  inspector  within  twenty-four  hours. 

Neglect  to  keep  a  factory  or  workshop  in  conformity 
with  the  act  is  punishable  by  a  fine  not  exceeding 
;£io;  and  the  court  (of  summary  jurisdiction)  may 
inflict  a  fine,  not  exceeding  ^100,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  injured  person  or  his  family,  or  otherwise,  in  case 
of  death  or  injury  in  consequence  of  neglect  to  fence 
machinery  as  required. 

Professor  Watson,  in  the  same  paper,  gives  a  very 


INJURIES   FROM  ACCIDENTS.  135 

interesting  account  c^f  an  Association  for  the  Preven- 
tion of  Factory  Accidents,  existing  at  Mulhouse,  in 
Alsace.  It  consists  of  twenty-four  members,  com- 
prising mill-owners,  superintendents,  manufacturing 
engineers,  foremen,  and  workmen  chosen  by  the  In- 
dustrial Society  of  the  city,  with  the  aid  of  the  work- 
men. The  Association  offers  arbitration,  in  cases  of 
claims  for  damage,  and  uses  various  means  for  spread- 
ing a  knowledge  of  the  dangers  and  their  remedies. 
At  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1878,  they  exhibited  twen- 
ty-seven examples  of  contrivances  adapted  to  prevent 
very  severe  accidents  such  as  commonly  occur, 
especially  from  belts,  shafts,  pulleys,  wheels,  and 
circular-saws.  It  would  be  well  if  our  employers  of 
labor  in  large  manufacturing  centres,  such  as  Phila- 
delphia, Fall  River,  Lowell,  etc.,  would  imitate  this 
humane  example. 

Railway  accidents  may  be  properly  mentioned  in 
this  place,  for  they  affect  the  employes  in  vastly 
greater  proportion  than  the  passengers.  For  instance, 
in  France,  from  1854  to  1869,  the  number  of  travellers 
killed  and  wounded  on  railroads  was  2,832  ;  but  that 
of  employes  was  11,908.  If  we  consider  how  few 
men  are  required  to  run  a  train  carrying  hundreds  of 
passengers,  we  cannot  help  being  struck  with  the 
great  disproportion. 


CHAPTER  V. 

REGULATION  OF  HOURS  OF  LABOR. 

THE  application  of  machinery  and  steam-power  to 
the  manufacturing  arts  has  made  England  the 
richest  country  in  the  world.  But  this  wealth  was 
attained,  at  first,  at  a  cost  of  human  suffering  and 
death  which  makes  a  sad  page  in  history ;  a  page 
which,  fortunately,  has  not  been  paralleled  in  our 
country.  No  system  of  labor  has  existed  here,  upon 
a  large  scale,  by  which  a  boy  of  eight  years  could  be 
carried  daily  to  work  for  sixteen  hours  in  a  mill,  with 
half  an  hour  for  meals.  We  have  not  seen  large 
numbers  of  little  children  beginning  a  full  day's 
work  at  six  years  of  age ;  nor  have  we  frequently 
seen  the  consequent  distortions  and  deformities 
known  in  England  as  the  "factory-leg,"  due  to 
standing  an  excessive  length  of  time.  No  large 
numbers  of  women  here  work  all  day,  leaving  little 
infants  in  the  charge  of  baby-farmers. 

It  is  useless  to  expect  that  these  things  will  always 
go  right  of  themselves.  The  absence  of  legislation 
on  hours  of  labor,  for  the  protection  of  women  and 

136 


REGULATION  OF  HOURS   OF  LABOR.        137 

children  especially,  is  excusable  in  some  of  our  States, 
on  the  ground  of  the  subordinate  nature  of  the  in- 
dustry. But  the  want  of  uniformity  which  is  seen  in 
the  laws  of  States  which  have  attempted  statutory 
regulation  is  a  little  startling,  and  obliges  us  to  infer 
that  American  views  are  not  so  definite  on  some  prac- 
tical points  as  they  might  be. 

From  a  communication  sent  me  by  Dr.  Roger  S. 
Tracy,  of  the  New  York  Board  of  Health,  I  compile 
the  following  statements,  which  will  give  a  nearly 
complete  idea  of  what  has  been  done  hitherto.  Dr. 
Tracy  examined  the  statistics  of  the  twenty-eight 
principal  States,  and  found  the  following:  — 

Factories. — Labor  forbidden  to  children  under  10 
in  Massachusetts  and  New  Jersey ;  under  1 2  in  Rhode 
Island  and  Wisconsin ;  under  13  in  Pennsylvania. 

Coal-mines. — Labor  forbidden  to  children  under 
12  in  Pennsylvania;  to  children  under  12  and  all 
women  in  Illinois,  and  under  14  in  Colorado. 

Factories. — Over  ten  hours'  work  daily  forbidden 
to  children  under  14  in  Michigan  ;  15,  in  Connecti- 
cut; 16,  in  Maine  and  Maryland;  18,  and  all  women, 
in  Ohio. 

Factories.  —  Over  eight  hours'  daily  work  forbid- 
den to  all  under  18,  and  to  all  women,  in  Wisconsin. 

Educational  requirements  are  made  in  eight  of  the 
twenty-eight  States.  The  strictest  are  those  of  Wis- 


138       SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  HYGIENE. 

cousin,  where  children  are  not  to  be  employed  while 
the  public  schools  are  in  session. 

This  is  about  all  that  has  been  done  in  our  country 
for  the  protection  of  women  and  children  from  ex- 
cessive and  improper  labor.  There  are  laws  relating 
to  the  employment  of  children  in  fourteen  of  the 
twenty-eight  States ;  but  a  large  number  of  the  laws 
relate  to  educational  and  not  to  sanitary  points. 

It  is  certainly  a  singular  discrepancy  that,  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, parents  are  allowed  to  send  a  child  of  ten 
years  old  to  work  ten  hours  in  a  factory,  while  in 
Wisconsin  only  eight  hours  of  labor  are  allowed  at 
the  age  of  twelve  to  eighteen. 

The  English  legislation  has  been  thorough  and  en- 
lightened, showing  upon  the  part  of  its  authors  a 
degree  of  humanity,  painstaking,  and  intelligence 
which  go  far  to  atone  for  previous  sins  of  neglect. 
Its  provisions  are  as  follows :  — 

Children  under  10  shall  not  be  employed  in  any 
factory  or  workshop. 

A  medical  certificate  is  required,  in  the  case  of  all 
persons  under  16,  of  the  fitness  of  such  persons  for 
employment  in  the  factory  specified.  The  employer 
procures  this  certificate,  and  is  responsible  for  proving 
the  age.  The  Government  Inspector  may  require  a 
certificate,  if  a  person  under  16  seems  to  him  unfit, 
and  may  forbid  his  working  again  until  recertified 
by  the  certifying  surgeon.  The  examination  is  made 


REGULATION  OF  HOURS   OF  LABOR.        139 

at  the  factory.  Refusal  to  give  a  certificate  must  be 
accompanied  by  written  reasons. 

Persons  under  14  shall  not  be  employed  on  Sunday 
in  workshops  or  factories.  Christmas,  Good  Friday, 
and  eight  half-holidays  besides,  are  given. 

Children  are  employed  (under  14)  under  one  of 
two  plans  :  — (a)  in  alternate  sets,  morning  and  after- 
noon ;  (^)  on  alternate  days.  The  morning  work  ends 
at  i,  or  at  dinner  if  earlier.  The  afternoon  work 
begins  at  i,  or  after  dinner  if  later.  The  day  is  12 
hours  long,  viz. :  from  6  to  6,  or  7  to  7,  for  children, 
\oung  persons,  and  women,  with  ij  hours  for  meals. 
On  Saturday  the  day  ends  at  2  o'clock. 

Children  must  not  be  employed  more  than  five 
hours  continuously  without  a  meal  (half-hour).  All 
must  eat  at  the  same  hour  (children,  young  persons 
under  18,  and  women),  and  never  where  work  is 
going  on. 

Every  child  under  14  in  a  factory  or  workshop 
must  attend  a  school,  either  on  the  alternate  off-days 
or  on  the  half-days  when  off  work.  If  he  fails  to 
attend  in  any  week,  he  shall  not  recommence  work 
the  next  week  until  he  has  made  up  his  absence  from 
school.  The  employer  obtains  certificate  of  attend- 
ance. 

The  parent  selects  the  school.  Proficiency  in  the 
elementary  studies,  which  satisfies  a  certain  standard 


I4O       SCHOOL   AND   INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

fixed  by  Government,  enables  a  child  at  13  to  work 
as  if  over  14, — as  a  "  young  person." 

The  school  is  authorized  to  collect  its  fees  from  the 
occupier  of  the  factory,  to  a  certain  extent,  the 
amount  to  be  deducted  from  the  child's  wages. 

It  is  not  in  my  power  to  say  whether  the  health  of 
the  rising  generation  is  suffering  from  overwork  or 
confinement  in  factories  in  our  States.  There  is  not 
much  evidence  to  prove  it.  The  investigation  pub- 
lished in  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Health 
Report  for  1871  is  not  at  all  alarming  in  its  results. 
It  found  that  "  the  correspondence  in  death-rates  be- 
tween the  factory  population  and  the  whole  popula- 
tion, at  the  same  ages,  was  so  remarkably  close  as  to 
leave  but  little  to  be  said  M  (page  422). 

There  is  in  modern  labor  a  tendency  to  aggregate 
persons  and  resources  in  great  masses,  which  pro- 
duces town-life,  large  enterprises,  and  great  factories. 
In  many  ways  this  is  to  be  deplored ;  but  it  is  right 
to  see  the  bright  side  also.  The  old  system  of  inde- 
pendent workshops,  where  the  weaver  or  other  me- 
chanical toiler  spent  all  the  time  he  could  possibly 
give  in  small,  crowded  shops,  often  in  his  own  room, 
in  narrow  and  nasty  quarters  at  the  best,  has  given 
way  to  the  system  of  large  shops,  which  are  run  for  a 
much  smaller  number  of  hours,  are  far  better  lighted 
and  warmed  and  aired,  and,  what  is  perhaps  the  root 
of  the  whole  matter,  are  much  more  accessible  to  the 


REGULATION  OF  HOURS   OF  LABOR.        14! 

control  of  public  opinion  and  to  legislative  inspec- 
tion. It  is  in  the  large  shops  that  you  find  the  large 
brains  at  the  counting-desk  —  men  who  can  under- 
stand sanitary  needs,  and  are  not  hampered  by  the 
petty  necessity  of  domestic  economy  which  weighs 
down  the  solitary  workman.  It  is  the  large  establish- 
ments that  take  the  trouble  to  answer  questions  upon 
sanitary  matters  addressed  to  them  by  the  State  au- 
thorities. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

DURATION    OF    LIFE   IN    VARIOUS    OCCUPATIONS. 

AS  everybody  would  like  to  know  that  he  has  a 
prospect  of  long  life,  everybody  has  a.  certain 
curiosity  in  regard  to  the  statements  of  science  con- 
cerning the  effect  of  his  own  work  on  the  duration 
of  life.  There  are  a  good  many  facts  going  the 
rounds,  and  if  taken  with  allowances  for  the  circum- 
stances, these  facts  are  valuable.  But  there  is  so 
great  a  contradiction  between  the  statements  of  dif- 
ferent authors,  that  the  most  meagre  statements  are, 
perhaps,  the  safest. 

From  Hirt's  tables  I  select  a  typical  trade  or  two  to 
represent  each  period  of  life,  dividing  life  into  periods 
of  five  years.  My  selection  is,  of  course,  arbitrary. 

Among  the  operatives  who  die  on  the  average  be- 
fore the  age  of  40  years,  I  find  porcelain-turners, 
stone-cutters,  and  female  mirror-makers. 

Under  45,  goldsmiths,  lead  and  quicksilver  miners. 

Under  50,  cabinet-makers  and  operatives  in  cotton- 
mills —  not  very  wholesome,  and  not  particularly 
hurtful  occupations. 

Under  55,  to  my  surprise,  come  some  trades  which 
I  should  have  put  much  lower.  Needle-polishers  are 

142 


DURATION  OF  LIFE.  143 

said  to  average  50,  file-cutters  54,  engravers  54.6, 
and  so  forth.  It  is  possible  that  a  good  many  classes 
fall  in  here  simply  because  it  is  rather  a  medium  age 
at  which  to  die,  independently  of  other  circumstances. 

Under  60  years  (also  a  good  medium  age,  on  the 
favorable  side,)  we  find  blacksmiths,  butchers  and  car- 
penters, machinists  and  turners,  the  watchmaker  who 
measures  our  life  for  us,  and  the  grave-digger  who 
takes  our  measure  for  the  last  time. 

Under  65,  it  is  interesting  to  find  set  down  the 
classes  of  tanners,  dyers,  gas-men,  catgut  makers,  and 
bone-boilers  —  trades  which  may  remind  us  that  long 
life  is  not  to  be  attained  by  shirking  disagreeable  or 
offensive  tasks. 

Above  65,  only  three  trades  are  mentioned. 

In  England,  the  rates  of  mortality  among  different 
classes  have  been  estimated  by  Dr.  Farr,  who  states 
that  the  shortest  lives  are  found  among  earthenware- 
makers,  tailors,  needle-makers,  makers  of  files  and 
saws,  veterinary  surgeons  and  farriers,  railway  em- 
ployes, coachmen  and  cabmen,  commercial  clerks, 
butchers,  publicans,  innkeepers.  A  good  deal  of  this 
mortality  is  due  to  habits  of  excessive  drinking  and 
exposure  to  the  weather. 

Physicians  and  surgeons,  chemists  and  druggists, 
mercers  and  drapers,  hair-dressers,  barbers,  wig-mak- 
ers, and  hatters,  miners,  and  some  others,  have  a  high, 
but  not  an  excessively  high,  rate  of  mortality.  Carv- 
ers and  gilders  suffer  less  than  they  did  ;  and  manu- 


144       SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL   HYGIENE. 

facturers  of  wool,  silk,  and  cotton  no  longer  experience 
an  exceptionally  high  mortality,  owing  to  the  zealous 
efforts  made  by  Lord  Shaftesbury  and  his  enlightened 
colleagues  in  promoting  sanitary  legislation. 

Among  the  healthy  classes  may  be  named  carpen- 
ters, wheelwrights,  and  workers  in  wood  generally ; 
shoemakers,  grocers,  publishers,  and  booksellers. 

Among  the  healthiest  and  longest-lived  are  the 
agricultural  classes,  game-keepers,  barristers,  and  the 
clerical  profession.  But  solicitors  and  Catholic  priests 
in  middle  and  later  life  form  exceptions. 

Metal  workers,  in  the  aggregate,  do  not  experience 
the  average  rate  of  mortality  under  45,  but  after  this 
age  the  case  is  reversed ;  miners  have  a  still  higher 
rate,  and  both  classes  have  a  much  higher  rate  than 
agricultural  laborers. 

From  the  "  Massachusetts  Registration  Reports"  I 
will  quote  the  following  statement  of  the  average  age 
at  death  of  nine  general  classes  of  men,  the  average 
of  all  classes  and  occupations  being  50.94  years  : 

Average  Age  at  Death. 

I.     Cultivators  of  the  earth    .         .         .         65.13 
II.     Active  mechanics  abroad          .         .         52.62 

III.  Professional  men     ....         50.81 

IV.  Merchants,  financiers,  agents,  etc.    .         49.22 
V.     Active  mechanics  in  shops         .         .         47-92 

VI.  Laborers,  no  special  trades  .  .  47 .24 

VII.  Employed  on  the  ocean  .  .  .  46.09 

VIII.  Inactive  mechanics  in  shops  .  .  43-64 

IX.  Factors  laboring  abroad   .  .  .  35-42 


NOTE. 


THE  following  works  on  gymnastics  may  be  named 
as  useful  : 

Manual  of  Gymnastic  Exercises,  arranged  on  Hygienic  Prin- 
ciples and  adapted  to  music.  By  E.  H.  BARLOW.  Amherst, 
Mass.,  1866. 

Manual  of  Gymnastic  Exercises  for  Schools  and  Families.  By 
SAMUEL  W.  MASON.  Boston,  1863. 

Handbook  of  the  Movement  Cure  for  Prevention  of  Spinal 
Deformities.  By  M.  ROTH. 

Bow  to  Get  Strong,  and  How  to  Keep  so.  By  WILLIAM 
BLAIKIE. 

Training  in  Theory  and  Practice.     By  ARCHIBALD  MACLAREN. 
13  K  145 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

ABORTION  caused  by  mercurial 

poisoning 116 

from  lead  poisoning 117 

Accidents I33~I35 

legislation  to  prevent.     133,  134 

precautions 134,  135 

on  railways 135 

in  mines 125 

Adams's   statistics   of   distorted 

spines 37 

Afternoon  schools 61,62 

study 21 

Age,  as  determining  capacity  for 

study 31,  32 

Air,  quality  of  supply  for  furnace    86 

overheated 86,  87 

from  cellars 91 

See  Ventilation. 

American   desks   and   seats    for 

schools 67 

factory  and  mining  legisla- 
tion   137 

Amherst  College  gymnastics 44 

statistics  of  near-sight 58 

Anxiety  injurious  to  health 14 

Apparatus  for  gymnastics 36 

Appetite,  failure  of,  sign  of  over- 
study 


PAGE 

Atmospheric  changes,  injury 
from 120-126,  143 

Attention,  power  of,  at  different 
ages 30 


BACK,  support  for 68,  78 

Bakers 120 

Base-ball,  when  injurious 38 

Bigelow,  H.  J.,  on  chairs 68 

Blackboards,  position 83 

Black-damp 123 

Bleaching 115 

Boarding-schools,  some  good  ef- 
fects on  health 23 

See  pages  98-101. 

for  girls 100 


Application,  capacity  for  contin- 
uous mental,  at  different  ages..  30 

See  Study. 

Architectural  ornament  subordi- 
nate to  hygienic  requisites 84 

Arsenic  in  wall-paper in,  112 

chronic  poisoning,  symp- 
toms  

in  kindergarten  paper 

in  stockings 

in  artificial  flowers 

in  certain  ores 

Astigmatism  mistaken  for  short- 
sight 


Boards  of  Health,  duty  in  conta- 
gious diseases  in  schools 100 

Bodily  development,  when  com- 
plete   35 

growth 24-27 

Book-rest 70 

Bowling,  when  injurious 39 

Boys,  rate  of  growth 24 

Brain,  constant  repair  of. 28 

Breakfast  neglected  by  children..  17 

study  before 20 

Bronchitis 120 

Brooklyn,  statistics  of  near-sight  58 
Brown,      Buckminster,      injury 

caused  by  military  drill 46 

on  origin  of  spinal  de- 
formity    64 

Buffalo,  statistics  of  near-sight...  58 


CAISSON  disease 121 

Calisthenics 36 

specimen  of 46 

Carbonic  oxide  from  furnace 87 

Carter,  Brudenell,  on  care  of  eyes  48 

146 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Carter,  Brudenell,  on  near-sight.    60 

Catarrhs 93 

Cellar  air 91 

water-closets  in 96 

Chadwick,  Edwin,  on  hours  of 

study 29-31 

Chair-back,  main  use 68 

Children,  mental  characteristics 

7,  29,  30,  31 

requirements  in  exercise 35 

bodily  peculiarities 61 

sickliness  owing  to  mothers' 

trade 116,  117 

legal  restrictions  on  labor... 

119,  134-137,  140 

See  Ages. 

China-makers,    scrofulous    chil- 
dren   117 

Choke-damp 123 

Cincinnati,    statistics     of    near- 
sight 58 

City  life,  injurious  to  health  of 

children 27 

Clarke,  E.  H.,  on  sex  in  educa- 
tion      26 

Clergyman's  sore  throat 131 

Closets  for  scholars'  clothing 84 

Clothing 40,  44,  47,  93 

Coal-dust  inhaled no 

Cohn's  statistics  of  near-sight 57 

Colleges. 102-104 

for  girls 100 

study  in 32 

Color  of  walls 83 

Commons  at  college 104 

Competition  between  girls   and 

boys 25 

Comstock  lode 124 

Congestion  as  a  cause  of  near- 
sight 53 

Conjunctivitis 63 

Conklin,  effect  of  school-life  on 

eyesight 59 

Consumption  caused  by  inhaling 

dust 107-110 

among  miners 124 

soldiers 125 

Contagious  diseases 105,  106 

of  eyes 63 

Coralline 113 

Cotton-mills,  dust no 

Croquet,  how  injurious 39 

Cubic  space  required  in  school- 
room   -. 80 


FACE 

Cubic  space  for  dormitories 99 

in  barracks 126 

Culture,  its  true  scope _ 10 

Curvature.    See  Spinal. 


DAMPERS  of  furnace 86 

Danneberg    on    gymnastics,    at 

Frankfort 43 

Dayton,  Ohio,  statistics  of  near- 
sight 58 

Deafness  often  misunderstood  by 

teachers 49 

Decoration  of  school-room 83 

Deformities  from  factory-work...  136 

See  Spinal. 

Derby,  Hasket,  statistics  of  near- 
sight 58 

Desks,  faulty  construction....     65,  66 

height  of. 74 

assorted  sizes 74 

Development.     See  Growth. 

Diet  of  school-children 17 

See  Food,  Commons. 

Dinner,  time  for 21 

Discomfort  as  a  cause  of  deform- 


ity.. 


66 

Discontent,  effect  on  health 14 

Disinfection 105 

Distance  for  reading,  etc.     49,  53,  54 

Diving-bells 121 

Dormitories  in  schools 99 


i  coll 


eges.. 


104 


Drawing 57 

bad  position  in 64 

Dress  for  gymnastics 40,  44 

See  Clothing. 

Drill  of  scholars 95 


Drudgery  of  schools 15 

Drunkenness,  mortality  from 143 

Duration  of  continued  mental  ap- 
plication      31 

of   life   in  various   occupa- 
tions   142-144 

Dust,  poisonous 111-119 

prevention  of    109,  no,  117,  118 

Duty,  unregulated  sense  of 8,  n 

training  of  sense  of. 9 


EARTHENWARE  makers no,  143 

Education,  principles  and  theo- 
ries of. 7,  13 

claims  the  whole  child 8,  10 


148 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Education  should  include  morals 

and  health 9,  10 

should  develop  power,  en- 
durance, self-control n 

should  develop  spontaneity    29 

See  Study. 

Educational  legislation 137-139 

See  Half-time. 

Elbows  en  desk 70 

Embroidery 57 

Emotional  strain  upon  pupils 14 

Emulation,  its  power 8 

injury  from 8 

methods  of  arousing  it 16 

Enamellers 114 

England,  half-time  system 32 

disease  among  factory -hands  136 

English  Factory  Act  of  1878 

118, 119,  133,  138-140 

Engravers 129 

Equilibrium   of  mental  powers, 

when  disturbed 14 

Erismann  on  size  of  school-room..     79 

Etching 115 

Eulenberg's  statistics  of  distort- 
ed spines  37 

Evaporation  of  water 87 

Examinations  of  schools 17 

Excess  of  study  defined 28 

Exercise,  physical 34~47 

adapted  to  different  temper- 
aments  » 34 

by  walking 34,  35 

byplay 38 

J.  J.  Putnam  on 38 

by  military  drill 46 

See  Walking,  Gymnastics,  etc. 

Exhibitions  of  schools 16,  17 

Explosion  of  gas 122 

Eyes  of  young  children  allowed 

to  wander 61 

care  of. 48-63 

ignorance  of  teachers  about     48 

Brudenell  Carter  on  care  of.     48 

near-sighted 48,  et  seq. 

distance  from  book...     49,  53,  54 

effect  of  general  weakness 

of  disease  upon 52 

See  Near-sight,  Weakness, 

Far-sight. 


FACTORIES,  English.., 136 

American 137 


PAGE 
Factories,  health  of  operatives...  140 

Farr  on  life  statistics 143 

Far-sight 62 

simulating  near-sight 51,  55 

Fatigue  not  the  prime  object  of 

exercise 34 

Fevers,  prevention  of  spread 105 

Field-sports 34 

File-cutters no,  143 

Fire-damp 122 

Fire  on  the  hearth,  principles  of    88 
Fireplace,  aid  to  ventilation..    88,  98 

See  Open  Fire. 

Floor  of  school-room 84 

Follicular  pharyngitis 131 

Food 19,  23 

trashy — 22 

litable 


deficient  supply 22 

See  Commons,  Meals. 

Frankfort,  public  school  gymnas- 
tics     41-44 

Furnace,  supply  of  air  to 86 

valves 86 

should  be  large 86 

dampers 86 

producing  carbonic  acid...  ..  87 

-  water  for 87 


Furniture  for  schools.    See  Desks 
and  Seats. 


GAS-LIGHT,  ventilation  of. 87 

Gas.     See  Explosion. 

German  school-seats 67,  68 

Gilders 114 

Girls,  rate  of  growth 24 

— —  competition  with  boys 25 

about  age  of  14  and  15,  spe- 
cial care  of. 25,  26 

injured  by  "  society"  26 

choice  of  gymnastics  for 43 

should   not  have   to    climb 

many  stairs 95 

Glasses  should  be  worn  by  some 

children 60,  63 

to  be  selected  by  physicians 

only 63 

when  to  be  worn  by  children    69 

Glass-makers no,  114 

Grinders'  asthma 108 

Grinding,  wet  and  dry 109 

glass 114 

colors 114 


INDEX. 


149 


PAGE 

Ground  glass 83 

Growth  of  body 24,  27,  35 

Gymnastics,  Ling's  system  of.....    41 

for  girls 43 

in  Amherst  College 44 

in  normal  schools 44 

in  colleges 102,  104 

precautions  in 103 

teacher  for 103 

for  boating-men 103 


HABITS    of    health     taught    in 

school 9 

Hair-dressers 132 

Half-time  system  of  education 

in  England 32,  62,  139 

Hammer-palsy 128 

Harlan,  diagram  to  illustrate 

near-sight 50 

Hatters 113 

Health,  laws  of,  taught  in 

schools 9 

Heart-disease  in  miners 124 

Heat  of  mines 123 

Heating.  See  Ventilation. 


High-schools,  study  in 32 

Hirt's  life-statistics 142 

Holidays  in  factories 139 

Horseback    exercise    sometimes 


39 


IMMORALITY  in  schools 99 

Inhalation  of  dusty  and  poison- 
ous substances 107,  119 

Ink,  pale,  bad  for  eyes 57 

Inspection  of  schools  by  medical 

authority 45,  106 

Irksome  tasks 15 


JANITOR'S  duties 91 

Juvenile  labor  on  half-time  sys- 
tem      32 


KEEN,  W.  W.,  ventilation 92 

Kindergartens 29,  35 

green  papers 112 

Konigsberg,   statistics   of  near- 
sight 58 


PAGE 

LEAD-POISONING 114,  115 

Lead,  effects  on  women 117 

Legislation.  See  English  Fac- 
tory Act,  Restrictions,  Women, 
Children,  Education. 

Length  of  life 142 

Liebreich,  construction  of  desks 

and  seats 67,  77 

on  spinal  curvature 74 

Life,  duration  of. 142,  144 

Light,  defective,  causes  stooping    69 
horizontal  useless  in  read- 
ing      81 

what  constitutes  good 82 

dazzling  eyes  at  work 83 

direct  rays  of  sun 83 

artificial 83 


-  in  private  house 

-  See  Windows,  Shades. 


•-sight 58 

Lot,  size  of,  for  school 94,  95 

Lunch  for  children  in  school 22 

Lungs  affected  by  inhaling  dust, 

107,  no 

MAINE  ventilation 92 

Maps 56,57 

Masks  to  protect  from  dust 118 

Massachusetts  Registration  Re- 
port on  average  age  at  death..  144 

State   Board  of  Health   on 

prevention  of  spread  of  conta- 
gion in  schools 106 

State  Board  of  Health   on 

health  of  operatives 140 

Matches 116 

Meals,   interval    between  study 

and 20 

intervals  between 21 

sleepiness  after 21,  22 

in  factories 139 

Medical   inspection  of  schools, 

45,  106 

Mental  application,   excess   de- 
fined      28 

characteristics  of  children...      7 

depression  a   symptom  of 

over-study 15 

See  Study. 

Mercury,  effect  on  hatters 113 

mirror-makers 113 


ISO 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Mercury,  effect  of  on  gilders  114 

symptoms  of  chronic  poison- 
ing    114 

effect  on  women 116 

Military  drill  in  schools 46 

Miners 121,  125,  143 

Mirror-makers 113 

Morality  taught  in  schools 8,  9 

Mulhouse,  Association  for  the 
Prevention  of  Factory  Acci- 
dents   135 

Muscles,    affections    caused    by 

over-work 128 

Music,  practice 101 

Myopia.     See  Near-sight. 


NEAR-SIGHT  defined 49 

tends  to  increase 49 

diagram 50 

prevention  of  increase...     50,  52 

things  mistaken  for  it....     51,  54 

causes  of. 51,  53 

inheritance  of. 51 

pathology  of 51 

favored  by  weakliness 52 

bad  air 52 

is  not  strong-sight 53 

dangerous  tendency  of. 53 

Harlan  on 54 

caused  by  fine  work,  etc 57 

statistics 57,  59 

.increasing 59 

effect  on  character 60 

what  is  lost  by  it 60 

— —  should     be    corrected     by 

glasses  in  children 60 

as    related    to    compulsory 

education 59,  60 

related  to  spinal  curvature..    74 

Necrosis  from  phosphorus 116 

Nervous  system  injuredinschools 

14, 18, 100 
Neufchatel,  statistics  of  distorted 

spine 37 

Neuralgia  from  use  of  sewing- 
machine 130 

New   York,   statistics    of  near- 
sight 58 

Nitrogen  in  mines 123 


OPHTHALMIA 63 

Over-study,  signs  of, 16,  19 


PAGE 

Over-study  described 17 

defined 28 

Over-use  of  organs 127-132 


PAINTERS 1 14 

Paper,  tint  of .'. ......     56 

Paris    Exposition   of  1878,  con- 
trivances to  prevent  accidents.  135 

Phosphorus 116 

Pianists 129 

Piano,  bad  position  at 64 

Play,  city  children  deprived  of.. 

27,  38,  39 

advantages  of. 38 

when  injurious 38,  39 

when  inferior  to  gymnastics     39 

recommended 101 

Play-grounds 43,  94 

Pneumonia 109 

Poisons   and   dust,  effect  of  in- 
haling      107-119 

Porcelain-makers no 

Position  in  reading 55 

sitting 67-69 

faulty  in  writing,  etc.,  as  re- 
lated to  spinal  curvature    64,  73,  74 

in  writing 68,  70 

should  be  frequently  varied.     70 

Potassium  bichromate 115 

Primary  schools 32 

Principles  of  education 7-13 

Print,  bad 56 

Printers 114 

Private  schools 98-101 

Prizes  to  school-children 16 

Professions,  duration  of  life  in  142-144 
Putnam,  J.  J.,  on  gymnastics   38,  40 


RADIATION 87 

Recesses  in  school 47,  62 

Reading,  position  in 55 

while  sleepy 56 

Regulation  of  hours  of  labor  136-141 
Religion  not  taught  by  the  State  8 
Repair  of  brain  and  other  organs  28 

Rest  of  eyes  during  study 54 

Restrictions  on  labor  of  women 

and  children    118,  119, 134, 137, 139 
Rheumatism 109,  120,  124 


SABBATH ~ 35 


INDEX. 


PAGE 
...  126 
...  132 
...  113 

94,95 


Sailors 

Sales-people 

Scheele's  green , 

School-house,  site 

height 

School-room,  a  model 79-84 

shape,  dimensions 79,  80 

Schweinfurt  green 113 

Seamstresses 129 

Seats  and  desks 64-78 

faulty  construction 65,66 

principles  of  construction    66-78 

Liebreich's 67,  77 

German 67 

table  of  dimensions 76 

Varrentrapp's  model 75 

should  not  be  ranged  in  semi- 
circle      82 

Sedentary  life 131,  132 

Sewerage  of  schools 96 

Sewing-machines 130 

Sex  in  education 26 

Shades  to  windows 82 

Shaftesbury,  Lord,  legislation....  144 

Shoemakers 131 

Short-sight.   See  Near-sight. 

Singers 131 

Slates 57 

Sleep,  loss   of,   a  sign   of  over- 
study 16,  19 

Sleepiness  after  meals 21,  22 

should  forbid  reading 56 

"Slow  sight" 55 

Society,  injurious  effect  on  school 

girls 26 

Soldiers 125 

Speakers 131 

Spectacles.     See  Glasses. 

Spinal  distortion  in  girls 36,  38 

at  Neufchatel,  etc 37 

prevented  by  gymnastics....     38 

Buckminster  Brown  on  ori- 
gin of. 64 

related   to  bad   position   in 

reading  and  writing 64 

connected  with  school-seats     68 

Liebreich  on 74 

Standing  at  work 132 

State,  duty  of,  in  education 8-10 

Statistics  of  schools 15 

of  spinal  deformity 37 

of  near-sight 57~59 

of  consumption  from  inhal- 
ing dust 108,  109 


PAGE 

Statistics  of  accidents 133 

of  length  of  life 142-144 

of  health  of  factory-hands...  140 

Hirt's 142 

-  Farr's i 


Steam-fan 91 

heating 87 

Stone-cutters no 

Stoves 87,  88 

Strain,  emotional,  upon  pupils...  14 

mental 15 

Study  before  breakfast 20 

in  the  afternoon 21 

antagonism  between  study 

and  meals 21,  22 

interval  between  study  and 

meals 20 

amount  of. 28-33 

excess.  See  Over-study 28 

modern  methods 29 

in  kindergartens 29,  33 

Chadwick  on 29,  31 

-  wholesome 12 


capacity   for,   at    different 

ages 29-32 

maximum  average 31 

at  West  Point 31 


-  in  colleges.. 


in  high-schools 32 

by  the  half-time  system 32 

in  kindergartens 33 

in  primary  schools 33 

with  occasional  rest  of  eyes..  54 

recesses  in 62 

See  Education,  Girls,  Men- 
tal. 
Sulphate  of  quinia,  manufacture 

of. 115 

Sulphuretted  hydrogen 123 

Sulphurous    acid    produced    by 

burning  gas  83 

Sunlight  in  rooms 83 

inschools 94 


TAILORS 129,  131 

Teachers,  walking  exercise 35 

Sabbath  rest  for 35 

of  gymnastics,  dearth  of. 40 

in  London 41 

in  Frankfort 42 

special    requirements 

for 45 

for  colleges 103 


152 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Telegraph  operators  129 

Temperature  of  room 93 

Theories  of  education 7-13 

Tinting  of  walls 83 

Tobacco 117 

Trades,  duration  of  life  in...     142-144 

Type 56,  57 

Type-founders 114 

Type-setters 129 

Type-writing  machine 130 


URINALS  for  schools 96 


VALVES  forfurnace 86 

Varicose  veins 132 

Varrentrapp  on  size   of  school- 
room       79 

Ventilation  and  heating 85-93 

of  closets 84 

quality  of  air 86 

by  furnaces 86 

by  radiation 87 

by  steam  and  hot  water 87 

by  stoves 87 

auxiliary  use  of  stove-funnel     88 

by  fireplace 88 

amount  required 89 

expense  of. 90 

by  fan 90 

by  windows 91,  92 

in  private  schools 98 

of  workshops 109,  118 

of  mines 123,  124 

Violinists 129 


WALKING 34 

for  women 34,  35 


PAGB 

Walking  for  scholars 101 

for  teachers 34 

Wall-papers 84 

Walls,  tint  of. 83 

Washing,  to  protect  from  dust...  118 

Water-closets  for  schools 96 

Water-supply  for  furnaces 87 

Water,  heating  by 87 

Watson,  Wm.,  on  accidents 133 

Weakness  of  eyes  after  fevers....     52 

West  Point,  study  at 31 

White-damp 123 

Windows 80-82 

should  be  on  one  side  of  room     80 

illuminating  power 80 


-  position.. 


elevation 81 

collective  size 82 

shades , 82 

ventilation  by 91 

in  private  houses 98 

Women,  exercise  for 34,  35 

special  susceptibility  to  poi- 
son      116-118 

legal  restraint  on  labor 

118,  134, 137-139 

standing  in  shops 132 

Woodbury's  pen-holder 129 

Work,  proper  amount  of  mental .     16 

Worry  of  mind 123 

Wrist-drop 115 

Writer's  cramp 128,  129 

Writing     as      connected      with 

crooked  spine 37 

large  hand 57 

position  in 64,  68,  70 

See  Desks. 


ZWEZ  on  size  of  school-room 79 


THE    END. 


CATALOGUE  No.  5.  NOVEMBER,  1895. 

BOOKS  M  NURSES. 


FOR  NURSES  AND  ALL  ENGAGED 
IN  ATTENDANCE  UPON  THE  SICK, 
OR  THE  CARE  OF  CHILDREN. 


Dealing  exclusively  in  books  on  medicine 
and  collateral  subjects,  we  are  able  to  give  special 
attention  to  supplying  books  for  nurses.  We  have 
a  large  stock  of  works  on  Nursing,  Hygiene, 
Popular  Medicine,  etc.,  Temperature  Charts,  etc. 

Catalogues  of  Books  on  Medicine,  Dentistry, 
Pharmacy,  Chemistry,  etc.,  free,  upon  application. 

Special  attention  given  to  orders  to  be  forwarded 
to  a  distance,  by  mail  or  express.  Upon  receipt  of 
the  price,  any  book  will  be  delivered,  free,  to  any 
address.  Money  should  be  forwarded  by  Post- 
Office  Order,  Draft,  or  Registered  Letter. 

P.  BLAKISTON,  SON  &  Co., 

1012   WALNUT   STREET,   PHILADELPHIA. 

J8®*  The  prices  as  given  in  this  catalogue  are  net. 
No  discount  can  be  allowed  retail  purchasers. 


THE 

HYGIENE  OF  THE  NURSERY 

INCLUDING  THE  GENERAL  REGIMEN  AND  FEEDING  OF  INFANTS 

AND  CHILDREN  AND  THE  DOMESTIC  MANAGEMENT 

OF  THE   ORDINARY  EMERGENCIES   OF 

EARLY   LIFE. 

BY  LOUIS  STARR,  M.D., 

Clinical  Professor  of  Diseases  of  Children  in  the  Hospital  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania;  Physician  to  the  Children's  Hospital,  Phila. 

FOURTH  EDITION.    ENLARGED  AND  IMPROVED. 

WITH    TWENTY-FIVE    ILLUSTRATIONS. 
i2mo.     280  Pages.     Cloth,  $1.00. 


^*  This  book  contains  very  complete  directions  for  the  proper 
feeding  of  infants:  1st,  From  the  maternal  breast.  2d.  By  wet- 
nurse,  including  rules  for  choosing  the  woman.  3d,  Artificial 
Feeding.  This  part  of  the  subject  is  elaborated  carefully,  so  as  to 
include  everything  of  importance,  and  will  be  found  of  great  service 
to  the  monthly  nurse.  General  and  specific  rules  for  feeding  are 
given,  and  Diet  Lists  from  the  first  week  up  to  the  eighteenth 
month,  with  various  recipes  for  artificial  foods,  peptonized  milk,  etc. 
Directions  for  the  sterilization  of  milk,  substitutes  for  milk,  prepara- 
tion of  food  for  both  well  and  sick  children,  nutritious  enemata. 
etc.,  and  the  general  management  of  the  Nursery. 

"  Dr.  Starr's  experience  as  Clinical  Professor  of  Diseases  of  Children  in  the 
University  Hospital  and  as  physician  to  the  Children's  Hospital,  with  his 
eminence  in  private  practice  among  juvenile  patients,  is  ample  warranty  for  the 
satisfaction  and  instruction  to  be  found  in  this  book.  The  dedication  "  To  my 
Little  Patients,"  shows  the  sympathy  with  which  the  writer  enters  upon  the 
important  discussion.  The  volume  is  entirely  in  the  modern  lines  of  preventive 
medicine — more  important  in  the  nursery  than  at  any  other  time  of  life  ;  because 
constitution  building  is  going  on  then  and  there.  In  this  admirable  treatise,  so 
clearly  written  that  no  mother  need  be  deterred  by  fear  of  medical  terms  from 
making  its  teaching  her  own,  Dr.  Starr  carries  out  the  highest  ideal  of  the 
modern  physician,  so  to  regulate  the  lives  of  his  professional  clients  that  the 
occasions  are  less  frequent  when  he  need  be  called  in  to  act  for  serious  compli- 
cations. *  *  *  *  With  the  numerous  good  treatises  on  the  subject  that 
Philadelphia  publications  include,  this  intelligent  work  is  the  most  distinguished, 
as  it  is  also  the  latest  work  on  complete  Hygiene  of  the  Nursery." — The  Led- 
ger, Philadelphia. 


HUMPHREY'S 

MANUAL  OF  NURSING. 

MEDICAL  AND  SURGICAL. 


A  complete  Text-Book  for  Nurses,  including  General  Anatomy 
and  Physiology,  Management  of  the  Sick-Room,  Appliances  used 
in  Sick-Room,  Antiseptic  Treatment,  Bandaging,  Cooking  for 
Invalids,  etc.,  etc. 

Thirteenth  Edition.    With  79  Illustrations. 

BY  LAWRENCE  HUMPHREY,  M.A.,  M.D. 

12MO.     CLOTH.     PRICE   $1.00. 


ST.  JOSEPH'S  HOSPITAL, 

SEVENTEENTH  AND  GIRARD  AVENUE, 

PHILADELPHIA,  March  15,  1893. 
Messrs.  P.  Blakhton,  Son  <5r»  Co.  :— 

Please  send  us  six  more  copies  of  Manual  of  Nursing,  by  Humphrey.  We 
do  not  know  of  any  book  that  more  completely  meets  the  requirements  of  a 
Training  Class  than  Dr.  Humphrey's  able  Lectures,  for  they  are  at  once  clear, 
concise,  and  thoroughly  practical.  SISTERS  OF  CHARITY. 


From  British  Medical  Journal,  London. 

"  Nursing  literature  is  expanding,  and,  what  is  more  to  the  purpose,  it  shows 
manifold  signs  of  improvement  with  its  growth.  In  the  fullest  sense,  Dr. 
Humphrey's  book  is  a  distinct  advance  on  all  previous  manuals.  It  is,  in  point 
of  fact,  a  concise  treatise  on  medicine  and  surgery  for  the  beginner,  incorporat- 
ing with  the  text  the  management  of  childbed  and  the  hygiene  of  the  sick-room. 
Its  value  is  greatly  enhanced  by  copious  wood-cuts  and  diagrams  of  the  bones 
and  internal  organs,  by  many  illustrations  of  the  art  of  bandaging,  by  tempera- 
ture charts  indicative  of  the  course  of  some  of  the  most  characteristic  diseases, 
and  by  a  goodly  array  of  sick-room  appliances,  with  which  every  nurse  should 

endeavor  to  become  acquainted The  systematic  arrangement  of 

subjects  adopted  by  the  author  is  excellent." 


THE  BEST  GENERAL  TEXT-BOOK. 


NURSING     IN 

ABDOMINAL   SURGERY 

AND 

DISEASES  OF  WOMEN. 

A  Series  of  Lectures  Delivered  to  the  Pupils  of  the  Training  School 

for    Nurses    Connected    with    the   Woman's    Hospital    of 

Philadelphia,  comprising  their  Regular  Course 

of  Instruction    on   such  Topics. 

BY  ANNA  M.  FULLERTON,  M.D., 

Physician-in-  Charge  of  and  Obstetrician  and  Gynecologist  to  the  Woman's 
Hospital  of  Philadelphia,  etc. 

SECOND  EDITION,  REVISED. 
12mo.     300  Pages.     70  Illustrations.     Cloth,  $1.50. 


immediate  success  of  Dr.  Fuller-ton's  "Handbook  of 
Obstetric  Nursing,"  a  fourth  edition  of  which  has  just  been  pub- 
lished, has  encouraged  her  to  prepare  this  manual  on  another  and 
very  important  branch  of  the  science  and  art  of  nursing.  Dr. 
Fullerton  has  demonstrated  that  she  not  only  knows  what  to  say, 
but  that  she  has  the  happy  faculty  of  saying  it  in  a  plain,  practical 
style  that  interests  as  well  as  instructs. 

SYNOPSIS  OF  CONTENTS.  —  The  Surgical  Nurse  —  The  Germ  Theory 
of  Disease  —  Asepsis  and  Antisepsis  —  Abdominal  Section  —  The  Pre- 
paration of  the  Room  —  The  Preparation  of  Sponges  —  Sterilization 
of  Instruments,  etc.  —  Preparation  of  the  Patient  —  Preparation  of 
Operator  and  Assistants  —  The  Nurse's  Duties  During  Operation  — 
The  Nurse's  Duties  After  Operation  and  During  Convalescence  — 
Management  of  Complications  —  The  Pelvic  Organs  in  Women  — 
Diseases  of  Women  —  General  Nursing  in  Pelvic  Diseases  —  Pre- 
parations for  Gynaecological  Examinations  —  Preparation  for  Gynae- 
cological Operations  —  Preparation  of  Patient,  Operator  and  Assist- 
ants —  Duties  of  Nurse  During  Operation  —  Special  Nursing  in 
Gynaecological  Operations  —  Diet  for  the  Sick  —  Supporting  Treat- 
ment of  Abdominal  Sections  —  Index. 


A   HANDBOOK 

OBSTETRIC^  NURSING. 

Comprising  the  Course  of  Instruction  in  Obstetric   Nursing 

given  to  the   Pupils   of  the  Training  School    for   Nurses 

connected  with  the  Woman's  Hospital  of  Philadelphia. 

BY  ANNA  M.  FULLERTON,  M.D., 

Demonstrator  of^  Obstetrics  in  the  Woman' s  Medical   College  of  Pennsyl- 
vania;  Physician-in-Charge  and   Obstetrician  and  Gynecologist  to  the 
Woman's   Hospital  of    Philadelphia,   and    Superintendent  of  the 
Nurse  Training  School  of  the  Woman' s  Hospital  of  Philadelphia. 

40  Illustrations,    12mo.    Handsome  Cloth,  $1,00, 

FO  UR  TH  EDITION— RE  VISED. 

SYNOPSIS  OF  CONTENTS. — The  Pelvis  and  Genital  Organs — 
Signs  of  Pregnancy — Management  of  Pregnancy — Accidents  of 
Pregnancy — Germs  and  Antisepsis — Application  of  Antisepsis  to 
Confinement  Nursing— Preparations  for  the  Labor — Signs  of 
Approaching  Labor  and  the  Process  of  Labor — Duties  of  the  Nurse 
during  Labor — Accidents  and  Emergencies  of  Labor — Care  of  the 
New-born  Infant — Management  of  the  Lying-in — Characteristics  of 
Infancy  in  Health  and  Disease — The  Ailments  of  Early  Infancy — 
Index. 

"  It  is  a  book  that  I  have  recommended  since  I  first  saw  it,  and  we  are  using 
it  for  our  nurses  at  the  N.  Y.  Infirmary,  where  we  have  a  branch  of  our  School, 
our  nurses  going  there  for  instruction  in  obstetrics." — MRS.  L.  W.  QUINTARD, 
Supt.  Connecticut  Training  School  for  Nurses,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

"  It  is  the  most  modern  and  complete  book  I  have  ever  read  for  the  care  of 
obstetrical  patients.  I  shall  take  pleasure  in  recommending  it  to  this  school  for 
study."— E.  L.  WARR,  Supt.  Training  School  for  Nurses,  City  Hospital,  St. 
Louis,  Mo. 

"  I  have  looked  it  over  and  read  it  with  care,  and  think  it  is  the  best  book  I 
have  ever  seen  on  the  subject.  It  is  practical,  with  plain  instructions,  nothing 
superfluous.  A  good  book  for  nurses  and  teachers  of  nurses." — Miss  ANNA 
G.  CLEMENT,  Supt.  of  Nurses,  The  Henry  W.  Bishop  Memorial  Training 
School  for  Nurses,  Pittsfield,  Mass. 

"  I  consider  the  book  excellent  in  every  particular.  Would  recommend  it  to 
every  nurse,  whether  she  did  obstetrical  nursing  or  not  " — GERTRUDE  MONT- 
FORT,  Supt.  of  Nurses,  New  England  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children^ 
Boston,  Mass. 

"  What  is  to  be  learned  in  a  maternity  training  school  is  the  way  to  nurse  as  a 
profession.  *  *  *  Can  recommend  it  as  a  valuable  manual." — Front  the  Amer- 
ican Journal  of  Medical  Sciences. 


BOOKS  ON  NURSING. 


VOSWINKEL.  Surgical  Nursing,  a  Manual  for 
Nurses  and  Students,  including  Complete  Chapters 
on  Bandaging,  Dressings,  Splints,  etc.  By  BERTHA 
M.  VOSWINKEL,  Graduate  of  the  Episcopal  Hospital, 
Philadelphia;  Nurse  in  Charge  of  Children's  Hos- 
pital, Columbus,  Ohio.  With  in  Illustrations.  121110. 
1 68  pages.  Cloth,  $1.00 

SHAWE.     Notes  for  Visiting  Nurses,  and  all 

those  Interested  in  the  Working  and  Organization  of 
District,  Visiting,  or  Parochial  Nurse  Societies.  By 
ROSALIND  GILLETTE  SHAWE,  District  Nurse  for  the 
Brooklyn  Red  Cross  Society.  With  an  Appendix 
explaining  the  Organization  and  Workings  of  various 
Visiting  and  District  Nurse  Societies,  by  HELEN  C. 
JENKS,  of  Philadelphia.  i2mo.  Cloth,  $1.00 

CULLINGWORTH.  A  Manual  of  Nursing, 
Medical  and  Surgical.  By  CHARLES  J.  CUL- 
LINGWORTH,  M.D.,  Physician  to  St.  Mary's  Hospital, 
Manchester,  England.  Third  Edition.  With  18 
Illustrations.  i2mo.  Cloth,  .75 

BY   THE    SAME   AUTHOR. 

A  Manual   for  Monthly    Nurses.     Third  Edi- 
tion.    32mo.  Cloth,  .40 

"  This  small  volume  is  written  as  a  supplement  to  the  author's  well-known 
work  on  nursing.  It  treats  only  of  the  conditions  of  pregnancy  and  labor.  It 
is  clear  in  its  statements,  and  will  prove  of  great  value  to  those  whose  duty  it 
is  to  care  for  women  during  and  after  confinement." — N.  Y.  Medical  Journal. 

DOMVILLE.  Manual  for  Nurses  and  Others 
Engaged  in  Attending  to  the  Sick.  By  ED.  J.  DOM- 
VILLE, M.D.  Seventh  Edition.  With  Directions  for 
Bandaging,  Preparing  and  Administering  Enemata, 
Fomentations,  Poultices,  Baths,  etc.,  Recipes  for 
Sick-room  Cookery,  Tables  of  Weights,  and  a  Com- 
plete Glossary  of  Medical  Terms.  Cloth,  .  75 


BOOKS  ON  NURSING. 


CANFIELD.  The  Hygiene  of  the  Sick-Room. 

A  Book  for  Nurses  and  Others,  being  a  Brief  Consid- 
eration of  Asepsis,  Disinfection,  Bacteriology,  Im- 
munity, Heating  and  Ventilation,  and  Kindred  Sub- 
jects, for  the  use  of  Nurses  and  Other  Intelligent 
Women.  By  WM.  BUCKINGHAM  CANFIELD,  A.M., 
M.D.,  Lecturer  on  Clinical  Medicine,  and  Chief  of 
Chest  Clinic,  University  of  Maryland,  Visiting  Phy- 
sician to  Bay  View  Hospital,  etc.  i2mo.  247  pages. 
Handsome  Cloth  Binding,  $1.25 

*£*  This  book  is  the  outcome  of  a  series  of  lectures  delivered  by 
Dr.  Canfield  at  the  University  of  Maryland  Training  School  for 
Nurses.  It  contains  much  valuable  information  not  included  in  the 
regular  text-books,  but  which  of  necessity  the  nurse  should  be  ac- 
quainted with. 

"  We  recommend  it  to  the  attention,  not  only  of  sick-nurses,  but  also  all  other 
persons,  of  either  sex,  who  desire  a  knowledge  of  the  behavior  of  disease,  as  it 
concerns  infection  ;  and  the  manner  in  which  foulness,  either  of  wounded  sur- 
faces, or  of  the  sick-room,  or  of  the  dwelling-house,  may  be  prevented. 

"  Each  disease  is  taken  up  in  turn  (typhoid  fever,  consumption,  diphtheria, 
etc.)  and  the  methods  of  management  of  the  discharges,  etc  ,  are  described  in 
detail.  The  formulae  for  the  preparation  of  disinfecting  solutions,  for  clothing, 
utensils,  privies,  etc.,  are  clearly  set  forth;  such  details  as  one  may  search  his 
library  in  vain  for  are  here  given  in  a  compact  form. 

"  The  prevention  of  blindness  in  infants  receives  full  attention.  Ventilation 
is  duly  considered,  and  a  chapter  is  given  to  the  thoughtful  discussion  of  immu- 
nity and  protection  from  disease.  The  book  closes  with  some  remarks  upon 
the  diet  of  the  sick-room.  We  congratulate  Dr.  Canfield  on  his  work.  It  is 
well  worth  the  moderate  price." — Maryland  Medical  Journal. 

GRAPHIC  CLINICAL  CHART.  Designed  by 
J.  P.  CROZER  GRIFFITH,  M.D.  The  purpose  of  this 
chart  is  to  give,  in  the  most  concise  form,  a  complete 
record  of  pulse,  respiration,  and  temperature  of  the 
patient.  Its  simplicity  and  the  ease  with  which  it  is 
kept  commend  it  to  nurses,  and  the  clearness  of  the 
design  makes  plain  at  a  glance  the  full  history  of  the 
case.  Price,  in  packets  0^50,  .50 


BOOKS  ON  MASSAGE. 


KLEEN.  Handbook  of  Massage.  Cloth,  $2.25 
By  DR.  KLEEN,  of  Stockholm  and  Carlsbad.  Translated 
by  EDWARD  M.  HARTWELL,  A.M.  M.D.,  Director  of  Physi- 
cal Education,  Boston  Public  Schools,  late  of  Johns  Hop- 
kins University,  Baltimore.  With  an  introduction  by  S. 
WEIR  MITCHELL,  M.D.,  of  Philadelphia.  Illustrated  by  a 
series  of  Handsome  Engravings,  made  from  fine  Pen-and- 
ink  Drawings  after  original  photographs  made  for  the  pur- 
pose. *jf*  This  is  the  American  Edition  of  "Kleen's  Hand- 
book," which  is  well  known  among  teachers  and  experts 
as  the  most  comprehensive  and  perfect  on  the  subject. 
Several  changes  and  additions  have  been  made  at  the 
author's  suggestion,  notably  among  the  latter  the  set  of 
illustrations  made  from  photographs  taken  by  him  for  this 
edition.  No  pains  have  been  spared  to  make  this  the  best 
of  standard  works  upon  massage. 

MURRELL.  Massotherapeutics.  Fourth  Edi- 
tion. Or  Massage  as  a  Mode  of  Treatment.  By  WM. 
MURRELL,  M.D.,  F.R.C.P.,  Lecturer  on  Pharmacology  and 
Therapeutics  at  Westminster  Hospital,  Examiner  at  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh,  Physician  to  Royal  Hospital  for  Dis- 
eases of  the  Chest.  Fifth  Edition.  Revised  and  Enlarged. 
Illustrated.  I2mo.  Cloth,  1.25 

"  Dr.  Murrell  particularly  dwells  on  the  importance  of  discrimination  in  the 
selection  of  cases  and  on  the  special  qualifications  of  a  competent  manipulator. 
In  a  word,  this  essay  may  be  said  to  convey  in  a  short  space  most  of  the  infor- 
mation that  is  at  present  available  in  regard  to  this  popular  therapeutic  agent.  " 
— Front  the  London  Practitioner. 


OSTROM  ON  MASSAGE. 


JUST  READY.    THIRD  EDITION. 


Massage  and  the  Original  Swedish  Move- 
ments. Illustrated.  And  Their  Application  to 
Various  Diseases  of  the  Body.  A  Manual  for  Students, 
Nurses,  and  Physicians.  By  KURRE  W.  OSTROM, 
from  the  Royal  University  of  Upsala,  Sweden ;  In- 
structor in  Massage  and  Swedish  Movements  in  the 
Hospital  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  and  in 
the  Philadelphia  Polyclinic  and  College  for  Graduates 
in  Medicine,  etc.  Illustrated  by  ninety-three  ex- 
planatory Wood  Engravings.  Third  Edition,  Revised 
and  Enlarged.  i2mo.  Cloth,  $1.00 

"  Mr.  Ostrom  presents  to  the  English  public  this  excellent,  systematic  manual, 
showing,  by  illustrations,  the  various  movements  and  the  mode  of  application  to 
all  parts  of  the  body.  The  writer  tells  for  what  diseases  such  movements  are 
indicated,  with  some  remarks  on  the  physiology  of  the  movement  treatment." 
—From  The  Philadelphia  Public  Ledger. 

"  In  this  volume  the  author  gives  an  excellent  description  of  the  methods  of 
massage  and  Swedish  movement,  together  with  their  applicability  to  various 
diseased  conditions  of  the  body.  The  methods  are  rapidly  becoming  popular- 
ized in  our  own  country,  and  the  perusal  of  such  a  book  as  Mr.  Ostrom  has 
written  will  be  of  great  advantage  to  physicians,  for  whose  use  it  is  mainly  in- 
tended."— From  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association. 

"  ....  Our  author  has  performed  a  useful  service  in  publishing  this 
brief  and  clearly  written  manual,  and  we  can  recommend  it  to  all  who  wish  to 
gain  a  knowledge  of  a  method  of  procedure  which  is  daily  finding  more  favor 
in  professional  circles.  The  price  of  the  volume  should  also  insure  it  a  wide 
circulation." — From  the  Edinburgh  Medical  Journal. 

"  The  descriptions  are  clear,  and  so  well  supplemented  by  the  illustrations, 
that  anyone  with  this  book,  and  a  subject  on  which  to  practice,  could  undoubt- 
edly become  proficient  in  the  art  of  massage.  An  excellent  feature  is  the  simple 
classification  of  the  manipulations  adopted  by  the  author,  which  makes  the 
whole  subject  much  easier  to  grasp." — From  the  Medical  Nevus ,  Philadelphia. 


ANATOMY  AND  PHYSIOLOGY. 

POTTER'S  Anatomy.  Fifth  Edition.  117 
Illustrations  and  16  Lithograph  Plates.  A 

Compend  of  Human  Anatomy.  By  SAML.  O.  L. 
POTTER,  M.A.,  M.D.,  M.R.C.P.  (LOND.),  Professor  of 
the  Practice  of  Medicine,  Cooper  Medical  College, 
San  Francisco.  i2mo.  Cloth,  .80 

"  This  is,  in  its  way,  a  wonderful  little  book,  comprising  within  its  pages  a 
more  or  less  complete  account  of  every  part  of  the  human  body,  not  even  omit- 
ting the  histology  of  the  tissues  and  organs." — Edinburgh  Medical  Journal. 

"  Contains  many  useful  hints  and  aids  to  memory  not  found  in  ordinary 
works/' — Canada  Lancet. 

"  The  arrangement  is  well  calculated  to  facilitate  accurate  memorizing,  and 
the  illustrations  are  clear  and  good." — North  Carolina  Medical  Journal. 

BRUBAKER'S  Physiology.  Seventh  Edition, 
Enlarged  and  Improved.  Illustrated.  A  Com- 
pend of  Physiology,  including  Embryology.  By 
A.  P.  BRUBAKER,  M.D.,  Demonstrator  of  Physiology 
at  Jefferson  Medical  College  ;  Professor  of  Physiology, 
Pennsylvania  College  of  Dental  Surgery,  Philadelphia. 
28  Illustrations.  i2mo.  Cloth,  .80 

w  This  is  an  admirable  compend  of  physiology,  including  enough  of  anatomy 
to  fit  it  especially  for  the  use  of  students  of  medicine.  It  has  been  prepared  by 
one  who  is  fully  fitted  by  his  work  as  Demonstrator  in  the  Jefferson  Medical 
College,  and  as  Professor  of  Physiology  in  the  Pennsylvania  College  of  Dental 
Surgery,  and  by  his  experience  as  quiz-master,  to  compile  such  a  book,  and  it 
has  proved  its  utility  by  the  acceptance  it  has  already  found.  Its  style  is 
clear  and  distinct,  its  teachings  are  sound,  and  it  is  well  suited  to  the 
purpose  for  which  it  is  intended."— Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter. 


MATERIA  MEDICA  AND  THERAPEUTICS. 

POTTER'S     Materia    Medica,    Therapeutics, 
and    Prescription    Writing.     Sixth    Edition. 

Compend  of  Materia  Medica,  Therapeutics,  and  Pre- 
scription Writing.  With  special  reference  to  the  Phy- 
siological Action  of  Drugs.  By  SAMUEL  O.  L.  POTTER, 
M.A.,  M.D.,  M.R.C.P.  (LOND.),  late  A.  A.  Surgeon, 
U.  S.  Army ;  Professor  of  the  Practice  of  Medicine, 
Cooper  Medical  College,  San  Francisco.  121110. 

Cloth,  .80 


BOOKS  FOR  NURSES. 


HORWITZ'S    Surgery.      Minor    Surgery   and 
Bandaging.    Fifth  Edition.    167  Illustrations. 

A  Compend  of  Surgery,  including  Minor  Surgery, 
Amputations,  Fractures,  Dislocations,  Surgical  Dis- 
eases, Antiseptic  Rules,  Formulae,  etc. ,  with  Differen- 
tial Diagnosis  and  Treatment,  and  a  Complete  Section 
on  Bandaging.  By  ORVILLE  HORWITZ,  B.S.,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Genito-Urinary  Diseases ;  late  Demonstra- 
tor of  Surgery,  Jefferson  Medical  College,  etc.  Fifth 
Edition.  324  pages.  121110.  Cloth,  .80 

*#*  The  new  Section  on  Bandaging  and  Surgical  Dress- 
ings consists  of  34  Pages  and  40  Illustrations.  Every 
Bandage  of  any  importance  is  Figured. 

WYTHE'S    Dose    and   Symptom    Book.     The 

Physician's  Pocket  Dose  and  Symptom  Book.  Con- 
taining the  Doses  and  Uses  of  all  the  Principal 
Articles  of  the  Materia  Medica,  and  Officinal  Prepa- 
rations. By  JOSEPH  WYTHE,  A.M.,  M.D.  Seventeenth 
Edition;  revised  and  rewritten,  containing  Tables  of 
Weights  and  Measures,  Rules  for  Proportioning  the 
Doses  of  Medicines,  Hints  on  Treatment,  etc. 
Cloth,  .75;  Leather,  with  Tucks  and  Pocket,  $1.00 

WESTLAND.      The   Wife    and    Mother.     A 

Medical  Guide  to  the  Care  of  her  Health  and  the 
Management  of  her  Children.  By  ALBERT  WEST- 
LAND,  M.D.  121110.  Illustrated.  Cloth,  $1.50 

From  the  Philadelphia  Medical  News. 

"  A  noticeable  point  about  this  little  volume  is  the  commendable  absence  of 
technical  terms,  as  the  author  plainly  states  that  it  is  for  the  use  of '  women  who 
are  desirous  of  fulfilling  their  proper  duties  of  wives  and  mothers.'  Too  often, 
in  works  of  this  class,  the  readers  for  whom  they  are  intended  are  confused  and 
led  astray  by  the  multiplicity  of  words  and  phrases  meant  rather  for  the  prac- 
titioner than  the  mother.  .  .  .  Altogether  the  books  fulfills  the  objects  for 
which  it  was  written,  and  will  materially  assist  the  young  married  woman  in 
the  intelligent  performance  of  new  duties." 

From  the  Nurse,  Boston. 

"  The  style  is  easy  and  fascinating.  It  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  nurse 
and  married  women." 


NEW   EDITION. 

ACCIDENTS  AND  EMERGENCIES. 

A  Manual  for  the  treatment  of  Surgical  and  other  Injuries, 
Poisoning  and  various  Domestic  Emergencies,  in  the  absence  of  the 
Physician. 


By  CHARLES  W.  DULLES,  M.D., 

Surgeon  to  the  Out- Door  Department  of  the   University  and  Presbyterian 
Hospitals,  Philadelphia. 


Fourth  Edition,  Enlarged.    New  Illustrations.    12mo. 
ILLUSTRATED. 


.      Cloth,  $1.00 


SHORT  LIST  OF  CONTENTS. 


Preliminary  Remarks. 
Obstructions  to  Respiration. 
Foreign  Bodies  in  the  Eye,  Nose  and 

Ear. 

Fits  or  Seizures. 
Injuries  to  the  Brain. 
Effects  of  Heat. 
Effects  of  Cold. 
Sprains. 
Dislocations. 
Fractures. 
Wounds   of  all  kinds,   including  the 

bites  of  Dogs,  Cats,  Snakes,  Insects, 

etc. 
Railroad  and  Machinery  Accidents. 


Hemorrhage — Bleeding. 

Special  Hemorrhages. 

Transportation  of  the  Injured. 

Poisons  and  their  Antidotes. 

Domestic  Emergencies,  includes  Chol- 
era Morbus,  Vomiting,  Diarrhoea, 
Nervous  Attacks,  Earache,  Tooth- 
ache, Asthmatic  Attacks,  Croup, 
etc.,  etc. 

Signs  of  Death. 

Supplies  for  Emergencies. 

The  Surgical  and  Medicine  Case, 
their  contents  and  use,  Bandaging, 
Poultices,  etc. 

Index. 


*#*  This  book  should  be  in  the  possession  of  every  head  of  a 
family,  Nurse,  Manufacturer,  Police  Lieutenant,  Sea  Captain,  Hos- 
pital Steward,  School  Teacher,  Druggist,  etc.  etc. 

"  Several  attempts  have  been  made  to  prepare  a  volume  which  would  serve 
as  a  handy  manual  for  reference  in  the  time  of  need,  in  the  absence  of  a  doctor, 
but  none  have  succeeded  better  than  the  present  little  work.  It  should  be  in  the 
hands  of  all  officers  charged  with  the  public  conveyance  of  passengers,  to  be 
read,  in  preparation  for  emergencies,  and  afterward  to  serve  as  a  book  of  refer- 
ence." —North  Carolina  Medical  Journal. 

*'  This  little  manual  contains  simple  directions  for  the  preliminary  treatment 
of  accidents  to  all  parts  of  the  body  and  of  such  diseases  as  persons  are  suddenly 
seized  with.  Without  profuseness  or  an  unintelligible  vocabulary,  it  contains  in 
a  small  space  a  deal  of  useful  information." — New  York  World. 

"  This  is  a  revised  and  enlarged  edition,  with  new  illustrations,  of  the  manual, 
explaining  the  treatment  of  surgical  and  other  injuries  in  the  absence  of  the  phy- 
sician. The  simple  and  practical  suggestions  of  this  little  book  should  be  known 
to  every  one.  Accidents  are  constantly  occurring,  and  a  knowledge  of  what 
should  be  done  in  an  emergency  is  very  valuable.  Such  a  handbook  should  be 
in  every  home,  placed  where  it  can  always  be  found  readily. — Boston  Journal 
of  Education. 


"  I  may  say  that  Dr.  E.  P.  Davis'  Manual  has  proved  useful  to  me 
in  teaching  obstetrics  by  its  clearness  and  its  many  practical  sugges- 
tions."—MARION  E.  SMITH,  Chief  Nurse  Philadelphia  Hospital. 


DAVIS.     Manual  of  Practical  Obstetrics.     By 

EDWARD  P.  DAVIS,  A.M.,  M.T\,  Clinical  Lecturer  on  Obstet- 
rics in  the  Jefferson  Medical  College,  Professor  of  Obstetrics 
and  Diseases  of  Children  in  the  Philadelphia  Polyclinic, 
Visiting  Obstetrician  to  the  Philadelphia  Hospital.  Second 
Edition,  Enlarged.  351  pages;  150  illustrations,  several 
of  which  are  colored.  Cloth,  $2.00 

*'  I  have  carefully  reviewed  the  *  Manual  of  Obstetrics '  by  Dr.  E.  P.  Davis. 

"  It  is  full,  accurate,  concise,  and  gracefully  and  clearly  written.  It  is  a  most 
excellent  Manual  of  the  art  it  teaches." — Prof.  J.  Snydam  Knox,  Rush 
Medical  College,  2227  Calumet  Avenue,  Chicago. 

"  I  have  read  it  with  interest,  and  consider  it  one  of  the  best  works  on  the  sub- 
ject for  the  use  of  students  and  practitioners.  " — Dr.  James  P.  Boyd,  Albany 
Medical  College,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

"  I  am  so  well  pleased  with  the  work  that  I  have  recommended  it  to  my  class.  " 
—Dr.  A .  L.  Breysacher,  Medical  Department  A.I.  U.,  Little  Rock,  A  rk. 

"  I  have  completed  my  examination  of  it,  and  want  to  say  that  I  think  it  is 
the  biggest  little  work  on  the  subject  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  look  over.  It 
is  surely  a  complete  work,  devoid  of  theory,  replete  with  practice.  I  heartily 
commend  it  as  a  manual.  " — Dr.J.  R.  Rathmell,  Chattanooga  Medical  College, 
Tenn. 

"  I  would  say  that  in  style  and  character  it  is  abreast  with  the  most  modern 
and  approved  methods  and  thought  upon  the  subject,  that  for  brevity  it  is  clear, 
systematic,  and  concise,  very  suitable  for  the  busy  student  during  the  session  at 
college,  and  for  the  busy  practitioner  as  well.  It  gives  the  essentials,  and  I  shall 
take  pleasure  in  recommending  it  to  my  students.  " — Dr.  M.  R.  Mitchell,  Kan- 
sas Medical  College ,  Topeka,  Kan. 

"  It  is  especially  clear  and  pleasing  in  style  and  the  subject  matter  is  well 
chosen.  It  is  a  good  text-book.  " — Dr.  Clara  Marshall,  Philadelphia. 

"  It  is  concise  and  accurate,  and  I  cordially  recommend  it  as  admirably  suited 
to  the  convenience  of  the  medical  student  and  busy  practitioner.  " — Dr.  De 
Laskie  Miller,  Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago,  III. 

"  I  consider  it  a  very  good  book.  " — Prof.  A.  F.  A.  King,  National  Medical 
College,  Columbian  University,  Washington,  D.  C. 

"  I  consider  it  a  valuable  work,  especially  for  the  recent  graduates  who  are 
entering  upon  the  practice  of  obstetrics  and  pursuing  post-graduate  studies. 

"  I  keep  my  copy  where  I  can  read  it,  and  consult  its  pages  almost  daily,  and 
generally  find  what  I  want  in  a  few  lines." — Dr.  P.  C.  Clayberg,  American 
Medical  College,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

"  The  book  appears  to  me  to  meet  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  written  and  to 
be  a  valuable  addition  to  the  library  of  the  busy  practitioner.  " — Prof.  Randolph 
Wins  low,  University  of  Maryland,  Baltimore,  Md. 

"I  am  well  pleased  with  the  'Manual  of  Obstetrics'  by  Dr.  E.  P.  Davis, 
and  can  recommend  the  work  to  the  profession." — Prof.  C.  A.  Pauly,  Pulte 
Medical  College,  Cincinnati,  O. 

"  The  book  is  a  most  excellent  one.  After  careful  investigation,  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  cordially  recommending  it  to  anybody  in  need  of  a  small  manual." 
— Dr.  M.  D.  Mann,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


THE 


AMERICAN  HEALTH  PRIMERS. 

EDITED  BY  W.  W.  KEEN,  M.D., 

Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  Jefferson  Medical  College,  Fellow  of  the  College 
of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia,  etc. 


12  Vols.    32mo.    Attractive  Cloth  Binding,  each  40  Cents. 

This  Series  of  HEALTH  PRJMERS  is  prepared  to  diffuse  as  widely  and 
cheaply  as  possible,  among  all  classes,  a  knowledge  of  the  elementary  facts  of 
Preventive  Medicine.  They  are  intended  incidentally  to  assist  in  curing  dis- 
eases, and  to  teach  people  how  to  form  correct  habits  of  living,  and  take  care 
of  themselves,  their  children,  employees,  etc. 

I.  HEARING  AND  HOW  TO  KEEP  IT.     With  Illustrations.    By  CHAS. 

H.  BURNETT,  M.D.,  of  Philadelphia,  Aurist  to  the  Presbyterian  Hospital. 

II.  LONG  LIFE  AND  HOW  TO  REACH  IT.     By  J.  G.  RICHARDSON,  M.D., 
of  Philadelphia,  late  Professor  of  Hygiene  in  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

HI.  THE  SUMMER  AND  ITS  DISEASES.  By  JAMES  C.  WILSON,  M.D., 
of  Philadelphia,  Professor  of  the  Practice  of  Medicine,  Jefferson  Medical 
College. 

IV.  EYESIGHT  AND  HOW  TO  CARE  FOR  IT.     With  Illustrations.    By 
GEORGE  C.  HARLAN,  M.D.,  of  Philadelphia,  Surgeon  to  the  Wills  (Eye) 
Hospital. 

V.  THE  THROAT  AND  ThE  VOICE.     With  Illustrations.    By  J.  SOLIS 
COHEN,  M.D.,  of  Philadelj  hia,  Lecturer  on  Diseases  of  the  Throat  in  Jef- 
ferson Medical  College,  an<  I  on  the  Voice  in  the  National  School  of  Oratory. 

VI.  THE  WINTER  AND  ITS  DANGERS.     By  HAMILTON  OSGOOD,  M.D., 
of  Boston,  Editorial  Staff  Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. 

VII.  THE  MOUTH  AND  THE  TEETH.     With  Illustrations.     By  J.  W. 
WHITE,  M.D.,  D.D.S.,  of  Philadelphia,  Editor  of  the  Dental  Cosmos. 

VIII.  BRAIN  WORK  AND  OVERWORK.    By  H.  C.  WOOD,  JR.,  M.D.,  of 
Philadelphia,  Clinical  Professor  of  Nervous  Diseases  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania. 

IX.  OUR   HOMES.     With  Illustrations.      By  HENRY  HARTSHORNB,  M.D  , 
of  Philadelphia,  formerly  Professor  of  Hygiene  in  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania. 

X.  THE  SKIN  IN  HEALTH  AND  DISEASE.     With  Illustrations.      By 
L.  D.  BULKLEY,  M.D.,  of  New  York,  Physician  to  the  Skin  Department 
of  the  New  York  Hospital. 

XL  SEA  AIR  AND  SEA  BATHING.  With  Illustrations.  By  JOHN  H. 
PACKARD,  M.D.,  of  Philadelphia,  Surgeon  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital. 

XII.  SCHOOL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  HYGIENE.  By  D.  F.  LINCOLN,  M.D., 
of  Boston,  Mass.,  Chairman  Department  of  Health,  American  Social 
Science  Association. 

u  The  series  of  'American  Health  Primers  '  deserves  hearty  commendation. 
These  handbooks  of  practical  suggestions  are  prepared  by  men  whose  profes- 
sional competence  is  beyond  question,  and,  for  the  most  part,  by  those  who 
have  made  the  subject  treated  the  study  of  their  lives." — New  York  Sun. 

*#*  Each  Volume  50  Cents,  in  Attractive  Cloth  Binding. 


BYFORD'S 
MANUAL   OF    GYNECOLOGY 

Two  Hundred  and  Thirty-four  Illustrations. 

By  HENRY  T.  BYFORD,  M.D.,  Professor  of  Gynecology 
and  Clinical  Gynecology  in  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  of  Chicago ;  Professor  of  Clinical  Gyne- 
cology in  Woman's  Medical  School  of  Northwestern 
University,  etc. 

12mo.    488  Pages.    Cloth,  $2.50. 


Though  prepared  more  especially  for  medical  stu- 
dents and  young  physicians,  this  book  has  many 
points  that  recommend  it  to  the  nurse  who  wants 
to  thoroughly  understand  the  important  details  of 
gynecological  nursing. 

The  chapters  in  Part  One  on  gynecological  tech- 
nique and  the  principles  of  gynecological  treat- 
ment are  more  minute  in  detail  than  is  usual  in 
such  books,  special  attention  being  given  to  the 
duties  of  the  nurse,  to  aseptic  and  antiseptic  mat- 
ters, instruments,  etc.,  etc.  A  series  of  eight  illus- 
trations showing  the  various  postures  in  which  the 
patient  is  placed  for  examination  or  operating  will 
prove  exceedingly  useful. 


GOULD'S  POCKET  MEDICAL  LEXICON. 


12,000  MEDICAL  WORDS 

PRONOUNCED   AND   DEFINED. 

A  Pronouncing   Lexicon  of  Medical   "Words   Specially  Adapted  for 
Nurses,  Including  Many  Useful  Tables  and  a  Dose  List. 

BY  GEORGE  M.  GOULD,  M.D., 

Author  of  "An  Illustrated  Dictionary  of  Medicine,  Biology,  and  Allied 
Sciences  "  "  The  Student ' s  Medical  Dictionary,"  etc. 

Pocket  Size.     317  Pages.     Gilt   Edges,  Full   Morocco. 
Price  $1.00 ;   with  a  Thumb  Index,  $1.25. 


OVER  45,000  COPIES  OF  GOULD'S  DICTIONARIES 
HAVE  BEEN  SOLD. 


"Gould's  Dictionary,  Pocket  Edition,  is  the  most  complete  and  convenient  I 
have  seen." — Marion  E.  Smith,  Head  Nurse,  Philadelphia  Hospital,  Phila. 

"  The  Pocket  Dictionary  is  a  little  gem." — L.  J.  Gross,  Head  Nurse,  Buffalo 
General  Hospital. 

"  I  have  examined  Gould's  Dictionary,  and  consider  it  the  best  dictionary  in 
a  small  compass  that  I  have  seen.  The  price,  too,  is  most  reasonable  I  shall 
recommend  it  to  all  our  nurses." — F.  Htitcheson,  Head  Nurse,  Flower  Mission 
Training  School  for  Nurses,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

"  I  shall  certainly  have  the  nurses  each  send  for  a  copy  of  the  dictionary.  It 
is  just  what  they  need,  and  is  a  nice  size  to  carry." — Harriet  Sutherland,  Head 
Nurse,  Margaret  Pillsbury  Hospital,  Concord,  N.  H. 


-8®=-  Every  nurse  should  have  a  copy  of  this  little  book  in  order 
to  intelligently  pursue  her  studies  and  to  thoroughly  understand 
the  physician's  directions.  It  furnishes  a  vast  amount  of  informa 
tion  not  to  be  obtained  in  the  regular  text-books. 


